St Mary's Hospital Mariannhill

About Us

St. Mary’s Hospital was built in 1927 but was initially established by a group of Trappist monks in 1882. Several of the monks were healers and it soon became clear that medical care was needed in the community. The monks appealed to women in their home parishes for assistance and five women responded. These 5 women formed the foundation of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood which is the order of nuns that still owns the Hospital today.

During the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918, it became apparent that the three mud huts that were used as a hospital were woefully inadequate and fundraising plans were implemented to build a modern hospital. As word of the hospital spread and the numbers of patients increased and so grew the need for skilled nursing staff. From this need for skilled nursing staff the St Mary’s Nursing School opened its doors in 1933.

Today the Hospital is owned by an inter-vivos Trust – St Mary’s Catholic Mission Hospital Trust. The Hospital is a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) 043-932 and Section 18A exempt organisation.

The hospital is situated in Pinetown, just off the N3 highway, in the Outer West district of the eThekwini District in KwaZulu Natal province. It is a 200-bed, Level One District Hospital, serving a population of approximately 1 million people living in the Outer West sub district of eThekwini district and acts as a referral Hospital for about 21 government primary healthcare clinics.

The surrounding community is largely deprived and the hospital is the only district hospital in the area. To this end the hospital has been receiving grant funding from the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health (KZN DoH) to deliver level 1 public health services (GP based hospital services) to public patients.

Patient Profile and disease prevalence

The eThekwini Metro has a mixture of privilege and deprivation both in terms of resources and education, with a highly industrialized metro around the Durban area and deprived areas in the more rural areas. Poverty estimates show that 41.8% of the eThekwini population lives in extreme poverty, compared to 50.5% of the KwaZulu-Natal population. As many people in the surrounding areas move to the eThekwini district looking for work, the eThekwini district houses 54% of the total unemployed population in the KwaZulu Natal province. The district has a gender split is 51% females and 49% males with about 28% of the population under 19 years of age .

There has been an improvement in access to basic services in the eThekwini district over the years, although there is still a backlog in developing adequate infrastructure in informal settlements with over 300,000 informal dwellings in the district. A lack of adequate infrastructure, sanitation and safe drinking water drives the high incidence of diarrhoeal diseases and high child and infant mortality rates.


As expected, based on the social determinants and demographic profile above, the following are the major health issues affecting the eThekwini district:

• Tuberculosis (TB): KwaZulu-Natal has the highest TB incidence rate in the country, within eThekwini district reporting a TB infection rate of 1,166.6/ 100,000 people in 2010 .

• HIV/AIDS: HIV prevalence in KwaZulu-Natal is 39.5% with the eThekwini district at 41.4%, in comparison to the national prevalence rate of 29.4%. The province also has the highest infant HIV exposed rate, on average 43.9% with a 2.8% mother to child transmission rate . The HIV-TB co-infection rate is also high, at 70%.

• Diarrhoeal Disease: Most of these cases are found during the rainy season (October to February) and the rotavirus season (April to August) with the highest number of deaths incurred in the RK Kahn hospital. The current diarrhoeal disease rate is 165 per 1,000. In addition the severe malnutrition rate for children less than 5 years of age is 6.9 per 100,000.

• Child and infant mortality rates: As noted above, poverty and lack of adequate infrastructure tend to affect children most, which is also exacerbated by the high HIV infection rate. The infant and under-5 year child mortality rates have however decreased during 2010 and 2012, to 7% and 4.8% respectively. Still births rates remain high, increasing to 26.2% compared to the KZN average of 22.9%.

• Mother mortality rates: KwaZulu-Natal has the highest case load of maternal deaths of all the provinces, accounting for 23% of all maternal deaths occurring in the country. The SA Health Review 2013 (Health Systems Trust), states that HIV, hemorrhage and hypertension account for over 85% of preventable maternal deaths, with HIV the single biggest contributing disease entity. The KZN target is to reduce the maternal mortality rate to below 135 per 1,000 live births and below 119 per 1,000 live births in a hospital facility.

• Non-communicable diseases: Other diseases that affect the area include diabetes and hypertension, with a rate of 0.2% and 0.4% respectively within the eThekwini district, higher than the KZN average of 0.12% and 0.28%.


New Management

St. Mary’s has experienced major cost and operational efficiency challenges in recent times, resulting in its placement under provisional sequestration on the 31st of January 2014. Two companies working in a consortium, Coalesce Holdings PTY LTD and Healthshare Health Solutions PTY LTD, drafted a strategic turnaround plan for the hospital and was appointed on the 1st of April 2014 to implement the plan. On the 26th of June 2014 the sequestration order was lifted. The intention is for the Coalesce-Healthshare team to continue management of the hospital for the next 5 years whilst fully implementing the strategic turnaround plan to ensure the long term sustainability of the hospital.

Coalesce

Coalesce is a South African strategic health consulting and product development agency with the aim of making healthcare more accessible and affordable for all. Coalesce helps identify unique needs and puts together a solution with the right partners to fulfill those needs. The company provides product development services and consulting specializing in the areas of health market analysis, business intelligence, risk management, strategic contracting and the delivery of integrated healthcare services. The team has over 30 years of collective health industry experience, both locally and internationally.

Healthshare Health Solutions

Healthshare is a leading international healthcare solutions company which provides customized, quality and affordable private healthcare solutions to individuals, businesses and governments in developing countries.

Healthshare offers a wide range of effective and quality healthcare services which includes hospital management services, management of clinic services, dispensary and pharmacy, managed care and referral services. The team is experienced at managing health business turnarounds and has successfully managed a number of hospitals in several African countries, including South Africa. Healthshare was also the FNB Business of the Year Gold Winner in the large business category for 2013.