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'Gen' won't be so general anymore
by Lynne Altenroxel
2002-05-16

Johannesburg Hospital, with its long, bleak corridors and imposing grey walls, is embarking on a new venture - the lucrative private hospital market. Part of its seventh floor has been transformed into a plush, upmarket hospital ward, complete with gilt light switches, en-suite bathrooms and a television set above each bed. The idea is that the hospital, which boasts some of the best doctors in the country, could raise desperately needed funds by cashing in on patients who can afford to pay for a more comfortable hospital experience. The difference between the public sector wards and the private wards is extreme. In the public sector areas, different sections of the 1200-bed institution are colour-coded, with bright red, yellow and green paint on walls, doors and along corridors. Hardly an interior decorator's dream, considering that the hospital's floors, built more than 20 years ago, are covered with brown Marley tiles. Glass doors still bear the hospital's old logo. Handwritten signs issue terse instructions to visitors. At the main entrance, scores of people sit on plastic chairs as they queue for service. At the private ward, situated for easy access from the parking garage downstairs, there will be no lengthy queues. Built at a cost of R3,5-million, it now has 27 beds and should have 200 by the end of this year. It could be a scene from any of Johannesburg's upmarket private hospitals.Excitement among staff about the development politely termed differentiated amenities - is evident. Everyone seems to want to work there. Johannesburg Hospital's private wards are the pilot sites for the province. The same concept is to be implemented in Helen Joseph, Pretoria West and Sebokeng hospitals in due course. (Source: The Star, 10 May 2002)

Johannesburg Hospital, with its long, bleak corridors and imposing grey walls, is embarking on a new venture - the lucrative private hospital market.

Part of its seventh floor has been transformed into a plush, upmarket hospital ward, complete with gilt light switches, en-suite bathrooms and a television set above each bed.

The idea is that the hospital, which boasts some of the best doctors in the country, could raise desperately needed funds by cashing in on patients who can afford to pay for a more comfortable hospital experience.

What you're buying is frills, said Johannesburg Hospital's chief executive Saggie Pillay, who compares the new wards to luxury seating on an aeroplane.

It's the same plane, you arrive at the same destination. You're paying for frills, not for clinical care.

The difference between the public sector wards and the private wards is extreme.

In the public sector areas, different sections of the 1200-bed institution are colour-coded, with bright red, yellow and green paint on walls, doors and along corridors.

Hardly an interior decorator's dream, considering that the hospital's floors, built more than 20 years ago, are covered with brown Marley tiles.

Glass doors still bear the hospital's old logo. Handwritten signs issue terse instructions to visitors.

At the main entrance, scores of people sit on plastic chairs as they queue for service.

At the private ward, situated for easy access from the parking garage downstairs, there will be no lengthy queues.

Built at a cost of R3,5-million, it now has 27 beds and should have 200 by the end of this year.

It could be a scene from any of Johannesburg's upmarket private hospitals.

Excitement among staff about the development politely termed differentiated amenities - is evident.

Everyone seems to want to work there.

I hear you're looking for porters? one man asks the unit's business manager, Moira Koen, as we walk by.

Koen has nursed patients at The Gen since it opened in 1978, and is also visibly excited about the project, which officially opens next Wednesday.

She has had to ensure that everything is in place - from choosing the earphones next to each patient's bed to the private company that will provide the food.

Now she is still trying to decide on a logo. The name, Folateng, meaning 'place of healing', came from the office of Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa, who approved the concept last year.

Johannesburg Hospital's private wards are the pilot sites for the province.

The same concept is to be implemented in Helen Joseph, Pretoria West and Sebokeng hospitals in due course.

Source: The Star, 10 May 2002

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