PROPERTY tycoon Phillip Chiyangwa is building a 260-bed hospital in Harare which he says will “meet and exceed the demand for world-class health facilities” in Zimbabwe.
To be known as PC Medical Mall, the hospital is already under construction at Alex Park and will add to his business portfolio which includes schools, a hotel, commercial and residential properties and a car rental business.
The millionaire businessman said the need for a world-class medical facility was brought home recently when one of his children fell ill but none of the local hospitals had the specialist facilities to provide the needed care. The child had to be flown to South Africa.
“At times it needs an assault on one of the things that are so dear to an individual that they are compelled to engage in things that bring change, complement existing projects and extend the service reach of the traditional service delivery matrix," he said.
“This multi-million dollar medical mall is a judicious and timely investment in a country awakening from the throes of a deep economic slump. Local consumers demand and expect more with the rising tide of their disposable incomes. My vision is a timely innovation to meet and exceed the demand for world-class health facilities.”
When complete, the hospital will boast a state-of-the-art maternity wing, a gynaecology unit and neonatal intensive care unit.
“What we are bringing complements the government and private investors who have put their money in the health services sector,” Chiyangwa told The Daily News.
He said they had targeted 30 specialists who are currently domiciled in the diaspora to return home and staff the new hospital.
“There is no doubt that their skills which make them adept at new technologies which they have been exposed to in the first world will provide the hospital with the critical technical know-how currently sorely missed at some of our relatively better hospitals,” Chiyangwa added.