Tygerberg Hospital receives state of the art Paediatric Operating Theatre

Polyflor SA has once again partnered with M-Net’s award-winning investigative journalism series Carte Blanche, and its Making a Difference (MAD) Trust, by contributing vinyl flooring and wall protection valued at more R250 000 to a special hospital project that will help to improve the lives of thousands of children visiting the Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape each year.

FLTR:  Leroy Arendse (Polyflor SA Technical Advisor), Wendy Mitrovich (Polyflor SA Brand Manager and Tandy Coleman (Polyflor SA CEO) attended the official handing over ceremony of the new Tygerberg Hospital Paediatric Operating Theatre (photograph centre) where they were gratefully acknowledged for their contribution (plaque right)

According to Polyflor SA Chief Executive Officer, Tandy Coleman, this was the 9th year that the company has been involved in this annual campaign which aims to equip and renovate Paediatric Operating Theatres, ICUs and High Care Wards in selected state academic hospitals throughout South Africa. To date, the Carte Blanche MAD Trust has completed 18 hospital projects in 10 hospitals within six provinces nationally.

Background to the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital

Tygerberg Hospital is the main referral tertiary hospital for over 50 % of Western Cape children including those of Metro East (including Khayelitsha and Helderberg), the West Coast, Winelands, as well as Paarl and Worcester Regional Hospitals. Tygerberg Hospital serves as the primary hospital for high risk pregnancies in the Western Cape, and the majority of newborn babies requiring surgery will be treated here.

“Tygerberg Hospital has a very large Obstetric Department with over 7 000 children born at this hospital each year, of which approximately 10% of the newborns will require immediate surgical interventions,” said Karolina Andropoulos, Patron of the MAD Trust.

Explaining the need for a dedicated Paediatric Operating Theatre, Andropoulos said: “Until April 2018, Tygerberg Hospital did not have a dedicated paediatric operating theatre. Because newly born babies and older children had to share theatre space with adults, they had limited access to theatre time. The existing theatres swung from dealing with adult trauma and septic emergency cases to babies requiring surgery.”

The newly unveiled Paediatric Theatre will be staffed by surgeons from the Paediatric Surgery Division of the Department of Surgical Sciences: University of Stellenbosch, which is an accredited Paediatric Surgery training centre with a strong research capability.   

Polyflor’s contribution to the project

“Modern healthcare design is all about creating comfortable, relaxed environments that are as welcoming as they are safe and clean. The right kind of flooring can have a positive effect on the atmosphere of a hospital and inspire a sense of healing and wellbeing in patients, staff and visitors.

Because we specialise in flooring solutions for hospitals, clinics and other healthcare establishments that focus on combining aesthetic beauty with a hygienic, professional touch, we were very excited to once again partner with the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Trust and to make a lasting and tangible difference in the community where it was most needed,” Tandy said.

More than 280 m² of Pearlazzo PUR in Ocean Ripple and Seafoam was used in the new Paediatric Operating Theatre, together with 25 sheets of Gradus SanParrel wall and door protection sheeting in Lagoon.

A Polyflor SA Team consisting of Tandy, Wendy Mitrovich (Brand Manager) and Leroy Arendse (Technical Advisor) attended the official handover recently, during which the newly refurbished and equipped Neonatal and Paediatric Operating Theatre was officially handed over to the hospital management, the Clinical Engineering Department and the Department of Paediatric Surgery of the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital. 

Western Health MEC, Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, officiated the hand-over and thanked the donors who contributed millions of Rands to ensure the realisation of this mammoth goal.

“On behalf of behalf of the Western Government Health Department, our heartfelt thanks to all the donors, especially the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Trust for this wonderful initiative (that) allows us in the public health sector to provide quality health services to those who desperately need it. Our paediatric patients will now enjoy state of art treatment in this wonderful facility. We would not have been able to do so without the partnership with the Trust,” Mbombo said.