SAKHIWO HEALTH SOLUTIONS: Universal Understanding Underpins Trusted SAKHIWO

“We are looking for clients – government departments – who see value in a company that creates healing spaces but also can look at alternative funding models,” says Dr Tebogo Mphake, CEO at SAKHIWO Health Solutions.

The company, busy with multiple projects around southern Africa, is hungry to partner with clients that share a vision of a better, more inclusive, more technologically advanced healthcare system that ultimately heals more people. Famed for its work on the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, where leading technology was installed in a state-of-the-art building, SAKHIWO has become recognised as an industry leader with a reputation for delivery.

“Almost anyone – architect or project manager – can put together a project to the best of their ability but there is no company, certainly on the continent, that has as many health professionals involved in deigning facilities,” says Mphake of the company’s deep knowledge pool.

50 people and a number of highly specialised consultants make up this specialist organisation, headquartered in Pretoria but expanding in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our facilities our highly influenced by health professionals for health professionals,” Mphake adds. “Our facilities show that those professionals have been an integral part of the design process and it is not simply an architect sketching a plan. It starts with a health worker walking through a facility and imagining it working for a patient. We imagine facilities where patients come to be cured and healed. We look for healing spaces and we are dedicated to the design of healing spaces more than just beautiful and high-tech facilities.”

SAKHIWO provides turnkey solutions to African healthcare problems, while coming up with unique, alternative funding models that allow for public-private partnerships to thrive.

SA PROGRESS

In South Africa’s north, Limpopo Province, the healthcare industry is challenged – like much of the country – with capacity and quality issues. Around six million people in the province are subject to a public health system comprised of outdated infrastructure and minimal investment. But SAKHIWO is looking to modernise and update with its project at the Siloam District Hospital, situated between Louis Trichardt and Thohoyandou.

“We have been involved in the district hospital project in Limpopo where we have finished designs and construction has begun with this R1.2 billion project,” says Mphake.

The hospital will house 224 beds as well as a new ward and doctor’s residence. In phase two of construction, local people have enjoyed employment opportunities and improved access to vital healthcare infrastructure. Set for completion in 2026-28, this is a hospital that was originally constructed in the 1940s and had fallen into a state of disrepair. Serving the residents of Vhembe, run by the Limpopo Department of Health, linking these rural villages to a modern health centre is seen as essential in the region’s economic development ambitions.

“We are looking forward to showing considerable progress on construction of Siloam Hospital,” says Mphake. 

Also in Limpopo, SAKHIWO has been a key provider at Limpopo Central, Thabazimbi, Letaba, George Masebe, Voortrekker, Philadelphia, WF Knobel, Evuxakeni, and Mankweng Hospitals, while also delivering services and consultancy for smaller clinics and laboratories.

In the Eastern Cape, SAKHIWO is busy with the development of the oncology unit at the Frere Hospital in East London. Here, Mphake is keen to showcase the company’s ability to deliver an entire project on a design, build, and equip-style model.

“We were awarded a contract to build an oncology unit in the Eastern Cape and that will be a state-of-the-art oncology unit that we will design,” he says. “It will be on a slightly different basis from what we have worked with government previously and will be a design, build, and equip contract. In the past, we were appointed as a professional services provider, coming in and completing designs, with the government handling procurement of a contractor and equipment. This is different as we will supply turnkey; from design to construction to equipping, and that is in Joint Venture with GVK in South Africa.”

This should be a pathway to more contracts like this, where value is achieved by all. “For Government, it saves quite a lot of time as they don’t need to be involved in all of the various stages,” highlights Mphake.

Already involved with a number of other projects where the company is not the lead consultant, SAKHIWO’s knowledge is much sought after. “In the Eastern Cape, we have three hospitals – Bambisana, Zithulele, and Sipetu. And we still have a contract for consulting on community health and health technology. We are also breaking ground on Limpopo Central and that will be our flagship in terms of the future,” says Mphake of a strong pipeline and wide reach.

HOLISTIC WISDOM

The cost of delivering high-quality health care, that produces results, is challenging. In South Africa, where a complex public system exists alongside a strong private sector, there is a difficult structure to navigate when looking to drive funding for projects. Simply, the government cannot afford to deliver what is required, and the private sector is unaffordable for many. For this reason, SAKHIWO has been a champion of alternative funding methods and has been pushing the idea of export credit funding for some time.

“We were set on getting the government to buy into alternative funding mechanisms such as export credit fund solutions with EPC. In South Africa, there has not been traction and we have not found a great degree of willingness to look at that,” admits Mphake. “We are not giving up and we are still pursuing. In other of our key markets, we have made progress and we have been given a mandate to go and raise export credit funding for a number of public hospital projects.”

The company has a broad base of suppliers and a strong partnership focus across international markets which sees clients able to install industry-leading technology across facilities. When looking at developing projects from start to finish, significant sums are involved and these are not always easily accessible in Department of Health budgets.

Thankfully, the company’s expertise is recognised and trusted – through the pandemic, many SAKHIWO staff were involved in the planning of the national response. The intelligence in the business is unrivalled and this is the same when it comes to funding.

“We wanted to pursue public-private partnerships and we are now a pre-qualified for easily the largest public-private partnership in southern African healthcare – the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. It has been running on a PPP for some time and they are now going out for procurement again, looking for a partner to continue on that basis. The government asks for a RFQ and we submitted. Out of five bidders, we were pre-qualified among two others. They have since submitted their financial and technical proposals.”

Opened in the early 2000s, the hospital requires modernisation in terms of equipment and process. Its budget is stretched and senior management have commented on the ability of the institution to meet the care needs of patients while managing a thorough and robust procurement process. This is where SAKHIWO can assist, and where the company’s access to a wide supply base is a major advantage.

“Construction companies, for example, must show a solid track record of high-quality delivery with hospital infrastructure,” explains Mphake. “We are working with OEMs and they must also have a reputation for excellence and high-quality products and service. It’s not just about a piece of equipment; it’s about the solution that comes with it. How up to date and how current is the OEM in the field they are in? In oncology, they have to be cutting edge and highly vested in R&D. Above all they have to value customer service and be uncompromising when it comes to excellence in customer service.”

AFRICAN GROWTH  

Importantly, SAKHIWO has a vision beyond South Africa and aims to be an outstanding leader in health infrastructure development while meeting the needs of clients and communities across sub-Saharan Africa. Mphake says that much progress has been made in many key markets and he is excited about the future after the challenges of 2020 and 2021.

“We have a strong base in Namibia and an office there. We have a project in Angola that we are busy raising funding for. We are seeking to establish a presence in Malawi where we are pursuing an oncology project. Right now, that is just a RFQ but we have submitted a proposal in partnership with a construction company.

“Over the past two years, we have defended our revenue – it has not grown significantly, but given the environment, we are not too worried about that,” he says.

“We are definitely going to be growing the design, build, and equip model for oncology and we are pursuing more of those opportunities,” he adds, including that the company is also now offering a facilities maintenance and management service enabling a full turnkey portfolio.  

Partnerships with ambitious companies and government departments remain at the heart of SAKHIWO’s growth plan, and Mphake – a medical doctor for more than two decades – is certain that the time for exploring new financial plans in healthcare is now.

“We are seeking more partnerships with OEMs so that we can offer more for clients. Lastly, we still want to influence government to offer alternative funding models. We believe the time is right with the South African public healthcare system attracting publicity for the wrong reasons, under pressure from a capacity and infrastructure perspective – and the government under fiscal pressure – we think that we are close to displaying the positivity of export credit fund solutions. I don’t see how, with the backlog of infrastructure, they will be able to fund that entirely from the government purse.”  

Clearly, SAKHIWO is an industry leader from a knowledge and technology perspective, and there is profound experience that cannot be replicated quickly. Few competitors have anywhere near the reach of SAKHIWO and the evidenced portfolio of success. As the demand for upgrades and improvements in the country’s infrastructure grows, the capacity to fund must grow too, and this must be managed by a reputable partner.

“We want to be known as a turnkey professional services company that is highly capable and has demonstrated its collaborative nature across the value chain,” Mphake concludes.