STATE OF THE FACULTY ADDRESS CHARTS BOLD PATH FOR WSU’S ROLE IN EC HEALTHCARE

The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Professor Wezile Chitha, delivered a State of the Faculty Address at the Mthatha Health Resource Centre recently, as the faculty marks 40 years as a key stakeholder of the Eastern Cape healthcare system.

In his address, Chitha spoke under the development goals of the WSU and Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDoH) Memorandum of Understanding (MoA) which stipulates a joint effort to develop the EC healthcare system through academic and research support.

“At the heart of the WSU academic healthcare system are our tertiary academic health centres, characterised by a unique fusion of academic functions, hospital functions, undergraduate and post-graduate programmes, research activities, students and patients. These centres are major providers of speciality care and provide a dual safety net as a provider of last resort for the critically ill and for the poor,” said Chitha.

He added, “The defining feature of these tertiary academic centres is the commitment to pursuing four missions: achieving high standards of clinical care, leading clinical, laboratory, public health and transformational research, educating doctors and other health professionals, and caring for underserved and poor communities.

Chitha made a special note of the Eastern Deanery in Mthatha and the Central Deanery in East London where academic activities and research will be decentralised to St Elizabeth Hospital in Lusikisiki and the Cecilia Makhiwane Hospital in Mdantsane.

These activities include: the undergraduate and postgraduate research support, the establishment of clinical training units, centres of clinical and research training, centres for excellence in public health, and research and innovation hubs.

“These centres are expected to play an important part in the redesign of care delivery models, contributing to the generation of knowledge and delivering an improved system and capabilities in order to respond to the changing needs of society,’ said Chitha.

The Executive Dean made emphasis on importance of developing leaders in organizational and systems change who will drive improvements in healthcare and foster integration across the entire health system.

These leaders will address evolving societal challenges, including reducing health disparities, managing the burden of diseases, and ensuring the integrity of quality healthcare.

“These leaders must be able to develop models that shift care out of the hospital setting, move the locus of care to outpatient settings like homes, the workplace, and the community to allow to provide prevention, early detection, and longitudinal care for chronic illnesses,” said Chitha.

Under this vision, the faculty already boast about the establishment of the Clinical Research, Academic Development, Leadership, and Education (CRADLE) launched in 2024 which facilitated the first research winter school designed to enhance research skills and knowledge for researchers and postgraduate students.

“As a faculty, we have noticed improvements in the research culture and research productivity and growth in research expertise, recognised by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF),” said Chitha.

Other initiatives include a new Integrated Learning Clinical Centre (ILCC) in Alwal North and the Public Health October campaign to encourage healthier lifestyles, amongst others.

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Nolundi Songca, said looking at the challenges facing the healthcare system, the university, the faculty, and the municipalities should consider multidisciplinary approaches and imbue entrepreneurship skills in our students to increase the number of operative doctors in the province.

“We must continue to collaborate with societies around us and start thinking seriously about a university town and see what kind of partnerships we can form to develop our society. As we continue this journey of reflection and growth, these are some of the things that our EDs can begin to ponder,” said Songca.

The King Sabatha Dalindyebo Municipality Member of the Mayoral Committee – Budget and Treasury, Councillor Zukisa Gana said that as the municipality is engaged in an exercise of reviewing its Integrated Development Plan (IDP), it is keen to see the works of the faculty and the university and how its plans can be integrated into the town planning.

By Ongezwa Sigodi