South Africa launches R528 million Baywest hospital project — Daily Maverick

In Gqeberha, South Africa, a groundbreaking ceremony for the R528 million Baywest Private Hospital project was held on October 22. The medical facility is planned to be built next to Baywest Mall on the city’s western outskirts; construction work is expected to begin in early 2027.

As Daily Maverick reports, the hospital’s first phase includes 120 beds, five operating theatres and specialised units. Dr Cameron McIntosh, the facility’s founder and board member, said the first patients are expected to be admitted 18 months after construction begins.

28 specialists and an expansion of bed capacity

From its first day, the hospital is expected to provide services involving 28 specialists across different medical fields. Planned services include care in obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, urology, nephrology, neurosurgery and haematology, stem cell transplantation, as well as specialised patient isolation capabilities.

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During the next two phases of the project, the number of operating theatres is planned to increase to eight, while bed capacity is set to rise to 216. According to hospital spokesperson Cole Cameron, the project was invested in by doctors who will subsequently work at the facility. The largest share of funding — R300 million — came from Investec.

Bed licences

To implement the first phase, the project initiators needed to obtain authorisation from state health authorities for 120 beds. One of the doctors present at the ceremony said that issuing such licences had been the main obstacle to creating new large private hospitals in the region. Medical professionals suggested that restrictions on permits could have been linked to the anticipated introduction of the National Health Insurance, or NHI, system.

Baywest will become the first fully fledged private acute-care hospital built in Gqeberha since 1985, when Netcare Greenacres opened. Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Mayor Babalwa Lobishe said the project demonstrates the confidence of medical professionals and investors in the city’s development.