Transforming care: FirstRand Foundation and SPIRE Fund donate R47m MRI scanner to Rahima Moosa mother and child hospital
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Johannesburg South's under-served mothers and children can now receive lifesaving diagnostics.
FirstRand Limited's FirstRand Empowerment Foundation (FREF) and its implementation partner, the FirstRand SPIRE Fund, have donated an MRI scanner, backup power solutions, and international training for Siemens technicians, worth R47 million, to the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, which serves over 3 million people in the Southwest region of Johannesburg.
SPIRE and FREF have consistently focused on supporting South Africa's healthcare system. FirstRand started the SPIRE public benefit fund during the COVID pandemic to assist the department of health with emergency responses, specifically equipment and capacity, in public sector hospitals countrywide. The fund continues to leverage its experience and networks to support projects that can profoundly impact under-served communities. It has also built or upgraded ICU facilities containing 244 beds in 8 hospitals across the country. In addition, in the past year, FREF has committed R200 million to the public healthcare sector, covering ward upgrades and the provision of medical devices.
The donation to the Rahima Moosa Hospital follows similar capacity-building initiatives funded by SPIRE and FREF at the Charlotte Maxeke and Baragwanath hospitals.
Commenting, Mary Vilakazi, CEO of FirstRand, said that, in line with the group's purpose of using its resources to make a real difference to people's lives, FirstRand and its partners remained particularly focused on improved healthcare.
"This donation marks a pivotal moment for the hospital's maternal, gynaecological and paediatric patients who previously had to be referred to other hospitals in the Greater Johannesburg region, often enduring wait times of between four to six months before receiving critical and often life-saving diagnostics services," she said.
"FirstRand's stated purpose to deliver shared prosperity is enabled by its client networks, the ability to crowd in other external funders through SPIRE, combined with the significant resources represented by FREF, and enables us to tackle high-impact projects such as this".
Dr Arthur Manning, CEO of RMMCH, said the scanner represented renewed hope and improved health outcomes for the community's mothers, children, and families.
"With this new technology, we can significantly reduce waiting times whilst also improving the quality and accuracy of diagnostic care our hospital offers for serious conditions such as tumours, developmental abnormalities, neurological issues, and suspected uterine anomalies in women undergoing fertility issues. We will now go from providing zero scans at our facility to conducting four scans a day, enabling the medical team to review and provide immediate response," he said.
The scanner was handed over at an event at the hospital attended by Gauteng Department of Health MEC Ms Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, representatives from the FirstRand Group, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, community leaders, and healthcare professionals.
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