South Africa used to be one of those countries which did not have a very good reputation, when it came to quality health care facilities. It was only in the early 1990s that the majority of the country started giving proper attention to it. However, the cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg are exceptions. They have a long history of medical research and health care. For example, the first heart transplant was performed at the Groote Schuur Hospital, located in Cape Town. Although, it is one of the best known government run hospitals in the city, the quality of health care does not fall short when the private hospitals in the city are taken into account either. In fact, the private hospitals actually lie ahead in the race when the quality and standard of equipment, the degrees and experiences of the doctors, or even when the service of the staff are concerned.
Private hospitals in the city are so widely spread, that it is very easy to access one, from almost any corner of the city. The cost incurred in private hospitals are comparatively greater than that in the government run ones, and so is the service provided. The private Hospitals in Cape Town provide the service of general physicians as well as various top-notch specialists. Starting from Vascular Surgeon, Urologist, Trauma Surgeon, Pulmonologist to Rheumatologist, Plastic Surgeon, Paediatric Cardiologist and almost every other kind of specialist is available at almost all the top private medical facilities.
Out of the many state of the art institutions, few are mentioned below:
1. Netcare chain of Hospitals:
There are 5 hospitals of the Netcare brand in the city of Cape Town, the most famous one being, Netcare Chritiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital at Foreshore, Cape Town. It is a 16-storey green technology hospital, providing service of the International Standard with imported equipment from the best parts of the world and providing world class specialists of almost all kinds. The rich history of the hospital is relished by its present practitioners as well. It has given the medical world many “firsts” when it comes to research accomplishments. Many of which have been robot operated or robot assisted procedures.
2. Maitland Cottage Homes for cripple children:
This is one of the only two Paediatric Orthopaedic hospitals in the entire Southern Hemisphere. This itself speaks volumes of its importance as well as the progress that Cape Town’s private hospitals have made.
With only 85 beds, the hospital is not a huge one when the size of it is concerned. On the contrary, the importance of the hospital is reflected by the medical services it provides, which include, medical and surgical treatment of Osteitis, Acute Osteomyelitis, Osteogenesis imperfecta, all types of fractures, Bone TB, etc. The most advanced technique to treat congenital clubfoot in toddlers without invasive surgery, called the Ponseti method, is also performed over here.
3. Mediclinic Constantiaberg:
It is a sophisticated hospital with leading professionals and consisting of several specialized nursing units consisting of, Epilepsy Unit, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Neuroscience Unit, Oncology Unit, etc. Apart from these, pathology, radiology, 3&4D scan and other advanced tests are also performed over here.
Other prominent world class private hospitals in the city include, Melomed Tokai Private Hospital, Kingsbury Hospital, Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital, etc. The city provides nonpareil medical treatment and many patients visit these hospitals from all over the globe. In the present day, Cape Town is not behind any other city of the world when in comes to medical aid.