Life Healthcare Opens Doors to New KZN Hospital

LIFE HILTON PRIVATE HOSPITAL

94 bed facility to boost quality healthcare delivery for local community and KwaZulu-Natal province at large
 Life Healthcare Group, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital operators, today (14 September) opened the doors to its newest hospital to date – Life Hilton Private Hospital based in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal. The 94 bed multidisciplinary hospital will enhance Life Healthcare’s patient-care offering in the greater area with five operating theatres and over 40 associated resident specialists.

André Meyer, CEO for the Life Healthcare Group says, “We’re proud to officially open a state-of-the-art hospital and welcome new staff to the Group. Life Healthcare is committed to delivering unequalled medical care. A combination of quality and clinical excellence with emphasis placed on the personal needs of our patients and their families – that is our focus.”

The substantial investment made in the new hospital is core to the quality and sustainability objectives of the Group, and has been designed with these priorities in mind. With its patient centric approach to healthcare, the new private hospital is a centre of excellence for the Group, focussing on much-needed service offerings like oncology and nephrology.

Improving access and care for the patient

The new Life Hilton Private Hospital is expected to have a major positive impact on the Natal Midlands’ access to quality, private healthcare services, and the effect of high-level expertise found at the new hospital will certainly be felt throughout the KwaZulu-Natal province at large. Local patients will be able to access advanced treatment without having to travel long distances including a 24-hour emergency unit on their doorstep, experience top-quality services with shorter waiting times, enjoy after hours care, and stronger communication through improved health IT innovations.

“Building on the access that our six existing KwaZulu-Natal facilities already offer, Life Healthcare is committed to extending medical care delivery to the area. We have identified a strong need for our services here and chose this location with the goal of making private hospital-based care easily available. Life Hilton Private Hospital reflects our commitment to providing exceptional, patient-centred care in modern facilities, while creating employment for local healthcare professionals,” says Meyer.

Life Hilton Private Hospital will be staffed by a team of experienced medical specialists and qualified nursing staff, led by a dynamic and committed management team. More than 40 specialists, resident or consulting, are available for consultation at the new doctors’ suites.

State of the art oncology treatment

Backed by the support of 11 oncologists from the KZN region, a high tech oncology unit (to be opened mid 2016) will include a cutting-edge radio-oncology device, the Novalis Tx. The Novartis-Tx produces radiation, which enters the patient from the outside and targets the tumour on the inside.  It has the technology to make its treatment as accurate as possible, and has an array of imaging tools to ensure precision.

Green facts

• Calculations show that the hospital will use 890 MWh less per year to run. That’s roughly the equivalent to 120 houses electrical requirements, which is substantial.
• Energy-efficient LED lighting with motion sensors consume considerably less electrical energy and reduce the heat load in the building.
• Heat pumps with heat recovery from the air-condition units provide hot water resulting in only a quarter of the electricity demand being required, compared to traditional element based hot water systems.

Hospital facilities include

• A 94 bed hospital with five theatres
• Theatres are fully equipped and intricate orthopaedic surgery such as knee and hip replacements are performed in state-of-the-art laminar flow theatres
• A six bed intensive care unit, a six bed high care unit and a five bed neonatal ICU
• A maternity and paediatric unit
• 24 hour accident and emergency unit
• Eight station renal dialysis unit
• A radiology unit including CT scanner, MRI scanner and x-ray facilities
• Oncology facility (opening mid 2016) with radio-oncology Novalis Tx unit