Community Health Centre
biggest project to date

The Ekuphileni Clinic along Bellair Road may have to
relocate to the proposed health care centre.

Construction of a R20 million Community Health Centre has begun in earnest. It is scheduled for completion by December next year.

The Centre will house a wide spectrum of primary health care and related services, boosting the level and range of health care services currently available in Cato Manor.

Its development has been made possible through joint capital funding by the European Union (R14.9 million) and the eThekweni Municipality (R9.4 million).

“The new Community Health Centre in Cato Manor will fast-track the realisation of the area situated at the intersections of Booth Road, which is currently under construction, and Bellair Road – two important city movement routes – as a buzzing Central Node Precinct,” says Martin Kaplan, Projects Director at the Cato Manor Development Association.

“The Community Health Centre will also be easily accessed from both the N2, and, on completion of Booth Road, the N3, encouraging people from the north, south and west of Durban to use the new facility. Durban’s King Edward and King George V hospitals are also located close by,” says Kaplan.

The 4 500 m2 primary health care facility will include a 24-hour Midwife Obstetrics Unit, an emergency and referral department, a dentistry unit, a rehabilitation centre, a pharmacy and over 20 consulting rooms out of which various health, community and outreach services will operate. The existing Ekuphileni Clinic in Bellair Road will relocate to the Centre when it becomes operational in 2004.

The Community Health Centre is the biggest public building project to be undertaken by the Cato Manor Development Association (CMDA), the agency responsible for the redevelopment of Cato Manor, since its inception in 1993.

Says Dusan Botka, EU Programme Manager: “The Centre is set to make a meaningful contribution to health care delivery in Cato Manor and the EMA. This is indeed a flagship project for the European Union.”

The eThekweni Municipality has committed a significant sum to the capital funding of the Centre while the operational budget is being met by the City and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health together. This buy-in from the provincial department will go a long way in the provision of accessible and appropriate health care to people in Cato Manor and the wider metropolitan area.

Active participation by the Cato Manor community has also underpinned the project since its inception. Representatives of the Cato Manor Community Organisation (CMCO) have been involved in identifying service priorities, in design development and in determining criteria to ensure that local enterprises such as sub-contractors, manufacturers, suppliers and local labour are involved in the construction phase.

Says Architect Rob Johnson: “The concepts of accessibility and integration inform the planning of the Central Node Precinct as well as the design of the facility itself. Easy access from a large covered verandah on the street, and the visual connection from the street to the main reception and public circulation route have been developed in response to the planning guidelines. Access, for emergency, staff and service vehicles also serves as a staff entrance.”

Within the two-level building, the design attempts to facilitate easy movement by positioning all patient-related activities on the ground floor and around an internal ‘street’.

“Interspersed with the main service areas (midwife obstetrics unit, emergency and referral, dentistry, rehabilitation and pharmacy) are 22 consulting rooms. These are designed for use by different service providers and grouped around waiting spaces which in turn present opportunities for public education. Two open courtyards provide natural light and ventilation throughout the ground level, further enhancing the inter-activity of the space and avoiding a typical sterile clinical environment,” says Johnson.

The CMDA Department of Public Buildings is responsible for both the programme management and the project management of the Community Health Centre.