Non-profit organisation Rhiza Babuyile (RB) has opened its first brick and mortar clinic in Diepsloot offering primary healthcare services to the poor of the community.
After over a decade of serving communities with mobile clinics, (RB) opened the R5-million Rhiza Babuyile Clinic Diepsloot on Thursday to provide accessible, advanced and quality primary healthcare to the Diepsloot community.
The RB said the organisation was working to ease the public health burden by offering an accessible, affordable alternative as before the establishment of the new clinic, there were only two public healthcare facilities in Diepsloot.
The organisation added that the establishment of the R5-million facility was made possible by donations from Rhiza Babuyile’s partners including global pharmaceutical company Viatris, the primary donor for the building of the clinic; and the Philips Foundation, who provided the diagnostic and healthcare technology.
Previously, RB’s mobile clinics reached about 1 400 per week and with a brick-and-mortar facility, the clinic will now be able to reach more than 2000 patients per week.
“The resources and funds that have gone into this project are an investment into the lives of the Diepsloot community which has long deserved access to quality and affordable primary healthcare,” said RB’s chief operations officer Rodney Makube.
Through a partnership with the Gauteng Department of Health (DOH), the clinic will also be assisting the government with its child immunisation programme, family planning services for young women and the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine roll-out.
The organisation added that having provided services in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, RB had always advocated for public-private-partnerships that help community development efforts work more efficiently.
A recent survey conducted by one of the clinic’s major sponsors the Philips Foundation found that Rhiza Babuyile’s primary healthcare services had elicited high levels of patient satisfaction.
“Respect and compassion can go a long way in making a difference for a patient who is already vulnerable and in need of care,” said Makube.
“The clinic will provide patients with quality service and patients will be treated with the dignity they deserve. One of the benefits of the clinic’s service is that it costs a fraction of the cost of seeing a private doctor, with a consultation ranging between R100 and R200.”
Patients will be charged a minimal fee in order to ensure the sustainability of the clinic in the long-term, he added.
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