Cape Town – A newly established wellness hub will alleviate the burden on Du Noon community health services and bring health care closer to residents, said Western Cape Health MEC Professor Nomafrench Mbombo.
Mbombo led a community walkabout and distributed more than 200 pamphlets to residents in the area in order to ensure that the community was aware of the services being offered on their doorsteps.
By the end of 2023, the Du Noon Community Health Centre (CHC), situated near an ever-growing community with an increasing demand for health-care services, attended to, on average, 150 adult walk-in patients and 180 children (no appointments), 120 doctor’s appointments, and 100 family planning appointments per day.
“Taking into account the high number of walk-in patients without appointments, this resulted in longer waiting times. Furthermore, the location of the facility meant that residents often had to walk further to receive primary health-care services,” said Mbombo.
She said the launch of the wellness hub in a more centrally located area brought health-care services closer to the community, making it easier for patients to access free wellness services.
“The wellness hub offers services such as family planning, chronic diseases screening, child health services, and HIV and TB screening at the Du Noon Community Hall between 9am – 12pm every Tuesday and Thursday.
“This initiative is central to the department’s Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC) policy, which speaks to improving access to primary health-care services, promoting health education and preventive measures within communities while also fostering partnerships between health-care providers and community organisations,” she said.
One of the people who played an important role in the hub’s establishment and holds the position of Du Noon CHC facility manager, Reuben Christoffels, said: “We are very excited about working with our NPO partners to establish wellness services in the heart of the community.
“We understand that a patient’s health journey is important, and we want community members to feel empowered to make their own personal health journey a priority,” Christoffels said.
“By establishing the new wellness hub, we are ensuring that our community has the power and access to free wellness services closer to home. We thank our partners and our health-care workers for making this initiative possible.”