Sick hospitals get new heads

Three newly appointed hospital CEOs in North West have vowed to hit the ground running and make a meaningful turn-around in the way health is run in the province.

The three are Polaki Mokatsane, Adrain Lourens and Gloria Tlhapi. Mokatsane and Lourens were appointed to manage Klerksdorp/Tshepong and Mafikeng provincial hospitals respectively while Tlhapi was retained at the Potchefstroom hospital.

The three executives were among the 102 new CEOs announced by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in January and they under went compulsory training at the academy of health and leadership management in health care initiated by the national Health Department in November.

Mokatsane began work last Monday joining Lourens and Tlhapi who started at the beginning of March.

Outlining his vision, Lourens said he wanted to strengthen good practices and ensure better health outcomes for all visitors to the Mafikeng Provincial Hospital.

¡°This is an effort to contribute to the proverbial bigger picture by ensuring that the people within the catchment area of Mafikeng Provincial Hospital receive good, quality and sustained services that will not only make them more healthy but also to keep them healthy and thus increase life expectancy for all,¡± he said.

Lourens holds a national diploma in public health and B Tech in environmental health. He has held various leadership positions in various public health facilities in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Mokatsane holds a masters degree in public health majoring in hospital management from Wits University. He also has management, leadership and development qualifications and B Tech degree in radiography basics of management from Pretoria Technikon.

Tlhapi has a masters in public health, a masters in development and management and a B Tech in public administration.

Provincial health department spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane said the appointments were made in line with the criteria for hospital chief executives published in the government gazette. CEOs must have healthcare backgrounds with at least five years experience in management of a health institution.¡±

elfast@thenewage.co.za

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