A new nurse-led clinic in Macassar aims to make primary healthcare more accessible to local residents, reducing the need for costly travel and long waits at public health facilities.
The clinic was launched through a partnership between Dis-Chem’s Better Tomorrow programme and the Cipla Foundation’s Sha’p Left initiative. The project supports community-based healthcare while helping an experienced local nurse establish an independent practice.
Macassar is home to approximately 52 400 people across 14 000 households, with many residents relying on the local Community Health Centre for primary and maternity care. The new clinic aims to ease pressure on the facility while bringing routine medical services closer to the community.
Led by Patricia-Ann Smith, a Clinical Nurse Practitioner with 37 years of nursing experience, the clinic operates on a fee-for-service basis and is licensed to dispense medication up to Schedule 4.
Patients can be examined, diagnosed and receive appropriate treatment and prescriptions during a single visit, offering a more convenient option for routine primary healthcare.
Services are intended to support people managing conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and hypertension, as the clinic also aims to address everyday barriers that can prevent residents from accessing care, including transport expenses, time away from work and queues at public facilities.
Joshila Shiba, Dis-Chem’s Head of Health Equity and Sustainability, said the partnership focuses on practical ways to improve access to healthcare.
‘Rather than building every solution from scratch, we partner with experienced organisations that already have proven, community-rooted models,’ Shiba said.
She added that the Macassar clinic would provide an opportunity to assess the intervention’s impact and long-term sustainability.
For Smith, the clinic represents an opportunity to turn a long-held ambition into reality while continuing to serve the community where she works and lives.
‘I have always wanted to own a healthcare business, but nursing has always been about putting people first and building trust,’ she said.
Smith added that accessible primary healthcare could help prevent illness, encourage healthier choices and improve quality of life.
‘Being able to make quality healthcare more accessible while contributing to my community makes this practice especially meaningful to me,’ she said.
The Sha’p Left initiative supports qualified nurses, predominantly women, who want to establish independent practices. Support includes infrastructure, training, compliance assistance and operational systems to help them run their businesses.
The Cipla Foundation developed Sha’p Left to establish nurse-led healthcare practices that can become financially self-sustaining rather than depending on ongoing philanthropic funding.
The model is based on the role that trusted, community-based clinical nurse practitioners can play in extending access to primary healthcare.
Paul Miller, who is the CEO of Cipla Africa, said nurse-led clinics could help expand access to services while supporting the public healthcare system.
‘By bringing essential services closer to communities, we can help ease pressure on overburdened public health facilities while empowering qualified nurses to become healthcare providers and entrepreneurs in their own communities,’ Miller said.
For Dis-Chem, funding the Macassar clinic forms part of its wider focus on primary and preventative healthcare in South Africa.
Shiba said the project would serve as a starting point for assessing how partnerships could improve access to care and deliver lasting benefits for communities.
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