Three Cities group to run KZN health centre
Friday, October 21, 2011
A multibillion-rand health and wellness centre to be developed on the North Coast will be the first of its kind in the world, a medical expert has announced. "We have put together a one-stop shop for medical tourism and health," Dr Colleen Coetzee said when she unveiled the unique project at the opening session of this week's 7th World Health Tourism Congress at the Elangeni Hotel this weekend. Patients seeking the most sophisticated treatments, operations and cosmetic surgery will fly in from around the world for cutting edge medical attention at a fraction of the price back home. The entire project will cost between R3 billion and R5bn and construction will start in February on the main health and wellness centre and hotel villas - to be operated by the Three Cities Hotel Group.
Local and international specialists will staff the centre, while patients will be able to bring along their families for support - and for a holiday - while they undergo their operations and treatment. The multifaceted complex will go up north of the Tugela River, will have both river and sea views and be called the Thukela Health and Wellness Centre (Thukela is the historical name of the river). It will also include an oncology unit as well as a rehabilitation centre for addiction, depression, stress and eating disorders. There will even be a cooking school where patients can learn about healthy eating. As well as a hotel, the project envisages fractional ownership villas, a residential complex, "top notch" schools, restaurants, shopping complexes and a wedding chapel. The project is expected to kick-start development north of the Tugela River where there is a high level of unemployment.
Councillor Lindiwe Shabalala, the mayor of Mandeni, said at Sunday's launch that about 500 jobs would be created in the construction phase and 1 000 permanent jobs. The centre will be on privately-owned farmland which Thukela Lifestyle Property Development Company bought from Dave McCarter. Coetzee told delegates that South Africa had been sidelined in medical tourism in the past because people were unaware of the country's five-star hospitals and doctors. A lot of patients from elsewhere in Africa already come to South Africa for medical procedures, but one of the problems was the lack of after-care. "But that is about to come to an end," she said. - Daily News
Friday, October 21, 2011
A multibillion-rand health and wellness centre to be developed on the North Coast will be the first of its kind in the world, a medical expert has announced. "We have put together a one-stop shop for medical tourism and health," Dr Colleen Coetzee said when she unveiled the unique project at the opening session of this week's 7th World Health Tourism Congress at the Elangeni Hotel this weekend. Patients seeking the most sophisticated treatments, operations and cosmetic surgery will fly in from around the world for cutting edge medical attention at a fraction of the price back home. The entire project will cost between R3 billion and R5bn and construction will start in February on the main health and wellness centre and hotel villas - to be operated by the Three Cities Hotel Group.
Local and international specialists will staff the centre, while patients will be able to bring along their families for support - and for a holiday - while they undergo their operations and treatment. The multifaceted complex will go up north of the Tugela River, will have both river and sea views and be called the Thukela Health and Wellness Centre (Thukela is the historical name of the river). It will also include an oncology unit as well as a rehabilitation centre for addiction, depression, stress and eating disorders. There will even be a cooking school where patients can learn about healthy eating. As well as a hotel, the project envisages fractional ownership villas, a residential complex, "top notch" schools, restaurants, shopping complexes and a wedding chapel. The project is expected to kick-start development north of the Tugela River where there is a high level of unemployment.
Councillor Lindiwe Shabalala, the mayor of Mandeni, said at Sunday's launch that about 500 jobs would be created in the construction phase and 1 000 permanent jobs. The centre will be on privately-owned farmland which Thukela Lifestyle Property Development Company bought from Dave McCarter. Coetzee told delegates that South Africa had been sidelined in medical tourism in the past because people were unaware of the country's five-star hospitals and doctors. A lot of patients from elsewhere in Africa already come to South Africa for medical procedures, but one of the problems was the lack of after-care. "But that is about to come to an end," she said. - Daily News
