Project Name South Africa-Lesedi Private Hospital, Gauteng

Region Sub-Saharan Africa

Sector Medical Services

Project Number 008293

Projected Board Date July 1, 1997

Company Name Lesedi Private Hospital (Proprietary) Limited

Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders
The sponsors are Kwacha Holdings Limited (90%) and Afrox Limited (10%).  The hospital is managed by Dr. Andre Nel, an MBA graduate and former medical practitioner.

Project cost including proposed IFC investment
Project Cost: US$556,000 equivalent
IFC Investment: US$267,000 equivalent (quasi-equity)

Location of project and Description of Site
The project’s facilities will be located in Soweto, Gauteng Province.

Description of Company and Purpose of Project
The project involves the addition of a 9-bed ICU facility to Lesedi Private Hospital’s (LPH) operations.  LPH comprises 202-beds but still lacks an appropriate and highly demanded ICU facility.  The only other hospital in Soweto with ICU facilities is the government hospital, Baragwanath, which cannot cope.

Project Development Effects
LPH will contribute significantly towards meeting the health care needs of people from previously disadvantaged groups. The creation of an ICU facility at LPH is likely to create career opportunities for medical staff from previously disadvantaged groups and ensure more productive use of local experts, who are precluded from rendering services to previously white-owned hospitals.

Environmental Categories and Issues
This is an environmental review Category B project.  Environmental, health and safety issues associated with this project include medical materials handling, disposal of medical waste, power and water supply, hygiene and implementation of good hospital management practices, CFCs, employee health and safety, training and fire protection.  The Company has a comprehensive manual dealing with medical materials handling and disposal of medical waste.  Contaminated linen are bagged in sealed water-soluble bags before sending to the laundry.  Needles are not recapped and are sent for incineration.  Contaminated dressings and hazardous waste is bagged in sealed red bags and sent to hospital incinerator for disposal.  Fluid waste is absorbed by the municipal sewage system.  The hospital policy is to use “Universal Precautions” as its infection control system.  This assumes that all patients are potentially infectious and appropriate precautions are taken.  The fire precaution system is regularly serviced.  The hospital will not have a water sprinkler system in the ICU because water damage to ICU equipment could threaten the lives of patients.   The ERS is expected to be available at the Public Information Center on/or about June 2, 1997.

Date SPI Sent to PIC: April 29, 1997

For additional information contact: Corporate Relations Unit
Tel. (202) 473-7711
Fax. (202) 974-4384



Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).