Bigen has generously contributed to the establishment of the much-needed Ngwelezana Hospital Paediatric Burns Unit in Richards Bay through rendering free structural engineering services. Completed in June 2019, the unit was officially handed over to the hospital on the 18th, for the first time fully equipped to meet the critical needs of burns victims within a large patient base.

Collaborating with the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Trust, Bigen’s Infrastructure division was happy to get down to “doing good while doing business” to help ensure the best medical outcomes for young burn victims in the region.

In South Africa, burn victim statistics include many children burnt in fires started by candles, open flames or paraffin stoves in homes where poverty precludes safer ways of cooking and heating. These children need specialised treatment such as skin grafting to minimise scarring and to prevent bacterial infections, breathing problems, muscle contractions and other complications.

 A key area for paediatric patient referral, Richards Bay, was identified by the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Trust to be in need of such services and the Ngwelezana Hospital Paediatric Burns Unit project was launched.

The hospital, some 20 km from Richards Bay, was an under-resourced facility with dilapidated wards serving the densely populated King Cetshwayo, Umkhanyakude and Zululand districts. Before the project, it was simply not equipped to provide the specialised treatment needed by trauma and burns patients. The project therefore aimed to transform the hospital’s existing eye clinic into a 22-bed paediatric burns unit with state-of-the-art equipment and capable of offering top-level treatment. Bigen was involved, through its charitable Akaretsa initiative and Sakhiwo Health Solutions Consortium affiliation, to supply drawings and specifications, and undertake site inspections. In the interior, the Bigen Infrastructure team incorporated beams to maximise open space and, collaborating with the hospital architects, attractive treelike structures where columns could not be moved. The result is a cheerful, child-friendly space reassuringly welcoming to young patients.

More than 30 other participants collaborated on the project, including Hillside Aluminium which donated R10.3 million towards covering the project cost. Now a state-of-the art facility, the burns unit is able to provide a range of services from general patient to high care and isolated ICU rooms. It is equipped with the best in purpose-fit medical equipment as well as special dry and wet treatment areas, and custom-designed air treatment facilities for optimal care of burn wounds.