Building a bigger and better ICU at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital

With the majority of funding already secured for the building of this life-saving unit, the Children’s Hospital Trust – the official fundraisers for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital – launched a public appeal in March to help raise the final R10-million for the building. South Africans rose to the challenge, donating through individual capacity as well as through companies, trusts and foundations and community groups, raising the R10-million for this world-class facility.

Currently the 22-bed PICU at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital is the largest ICU for children in Africa. It provides emergency care for critically ill or injured children from within the Western Cape, the rest of South Africa and the African continent. The demand is driven by the increases in surgery requirements and escalations in detection of serious illnesses.

Construction on the unit began in October 2015 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The 22-bed facility will increase to 39 bed spaces and will include a 10-bed High Care Neonatal Unit as well as eight isolation cubicles. The high care unit and the isolation cubicles will ensure optimal treatment through better infection control, which is critical in ICU.

The expansion and upgrade will also create more comfortable and supportive spaces for parents as well as breastfeeding mothers. Currently, family members have no privacy or space between life-saving equipment as they sit vigil at their child’s bedside. Increased space will also mean that staff, who work very long hours saving lives in tough conditions, will have adequate support facilities.

The Children’s Hospital Trust works alongside Western Cape Government: Health. The provincial government will contribute R30-million towards the ICU as well as a further R25-million for equipment.

CEO of the Children’s Hospital Trust, Louise Driver, says, “When we turned to the public to help us raise the final R10-million for the building costs of this project, we knew that it was an ambitious target. With a declining economy, many families in South Africa are tightening their belts. However, this R10-million raised symbolises the generosity and caring spirit that exists out there, no matter the personal circumstance. Each and every single donor has given childhood back to the thousands of little sick and injured children who visit the ICU each year.”

Cadi de Jager, a Hospital patient and the Trust’s youngest ambassador, has also played a significant role in raising these funds. Driver says, “Cadi has travelled the country to share her own experiences at the Hospital far and wide, calling on the public to help us raise the final R10-million. Cadi and her family secured over R100 000 in their own capacity through a series of events. We couldn’t have done it without her.”

Key donors were given a sneak peek into the ICU progress on Tuesday, 26 July and were able to experience the completion of phase 1 of the building project. 

For more information, visit www.childrenshospitaltrust.org.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.