The increasing population of Hermanus and the surrounding Overberg area, as well as high demand for quality medical facilities, has prompted Cape Town-based commercial and industrial property brokers Annenberg Property Group to develop a multidisciplinary state-of-the art medical centre in Hermanus, in the Western Cape.

The Hermanus Medical Village will open in January 2017 and cater for communities in Hermanus, Onrus, Caledon, Barrydale and Swellendam through to Heidelberg and Bredasdorp.

Annenberg Property Group MD Dudley Annenberg highlights that the medical village provides a comprehensive range of “cutting-edge” medical facilities to this rapidly expanding node.

A feature of the facility will be the three-theatre, 22-bed Hermanus Day Hospital. “The day hospital concept has grown exponentially in the health sector, as it offers a cost- effective facility to perform operations that do not require a patient to stay overnight,” Annenberg points out.

Typical operations performed at a day hospital include procedures in general, plastic, ophthalmology, gynaecology, urology, orthopaedic, maxillofacial, ear, nose, throat and dental medical fields.

Hermanus Day Hospital CEO Brian Evans adds that Hermanus has a large population that requires medical facilities and many patients have had to travel long distances for certain procedures. “Our day hospital will be a doctor-driven facility and, by inviting all the local doctors to participate in this venture, we will ensure that we acquire the latest technology . . . to provide medical care of the highest quality.”

Situated in De Goede street, close to the provincial hospital and Mediclinic, the new development will also include the Hermanus Oncology Centre, Spescare – a 20-bed subacute facility – and the Hermanus Elderly Care Place frail care facility.

As an additional service offered to oncology patients, five rooms will provide on-site accommodation, should they wish to stay overnight in private suites, says Annenberg.

“Further, supporting the day hospital and oncology centre, as well as serving the greater Overstrand area, is Spescare. Spescare offers a comprehensive range of specialist rehabilitation services following an accident, illness or injury resulting in a physical or cognitive disability for those who require specialist medical rehabilitation from doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dieticians, social workers and case managers,” he adds.

Spescare will occupy an entire wing of the village, while the other wing will be occupied by Hermanus Elderly Care Place, offering 20 private en-suite rooms and 17 double en-suite rooms on a rental basis, all with balconies or patios, air conditioning, and monitored with closed-circuit television cameras.

The facility, to be managed by Spescare division Medipartners, will include a residents’ lounge/dining room leading onto a patio.

Annenberg Property Group has also developed St Stephen’s Cure Day Hospital, the Oncology Centre and subacute facility in Skool street, in northern Paarl, as well as the Panorama Healthcare Centre, in Cape Town.

The Hermanus Medical Village is the group’s third foray into the healthcare market and two such projects will be developed in other suburbs of the Western Cape next year.