The state-of-the-art Victor Daitz Psychology Centre and Centre for Adolescent Health were unveiled at the KwaZulu-Natal Children’s Hospital during a donor celebration function hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Children’s Hospital Trust this morning. The aim of the event was to acknowledge and celebrate the Trust’s donors including those who had funded the most recent phase of renovations at the hospital.
Attending the event were donor representatives from the Victor Daitz Foundation, MatCH Institute and SA Women’s Forté, as well as Hollywood Foundation and the South African Muslim Charitable Trust who have made future funding commitments.
Speaking at the donor celebration function, an elated KZN Children’s Hospital Trust CEO, Ms. Taryn Millar thanked the KZN Department of Health for its twelve-year public-private partnership which has encouraged and brought together diverse stakeholders with the shared vision of creating a world-class health facility for the children and adolescents of KwaZulu-Natal.
“We thank our donors who made the most recent phase of renovations possible – the Victor Daitz Foundation for funding the Victor Daitz Psychology Centre, the Elton John AIDS Foundation for their contribution to the Centre for Adolescent Health, USAID for funding the renovation of the ground floor of the Old Nurses’ Home building that will ultimately function as a Mothers’ Lodge for parents/caregivers and their children, and the SA Women’s Forté for funding the renovation of a space that supports the work of the hospital’s physiotherapy team. This phase of renovations and the exceptional quality of the renovation has created an incredible springboard for taking our project forward to the next phase.” she added.
The KZN Children’s Hospital is the first of its kind on the African continent and the only public hospital dedicated to the treatment of children in KwaZulu-Natal which is home to almost a quarter of South Africa’s children, 88% of children with mental health conditions do not have access to treatment and those with neuro-diverse conditions face significant shortfalls in therapy hours. The KZN Children’s Hospital is a beacon of hope and healing with a primary objective of filling these gaps in mental health and neurodevelopmental services in the province, playing a critical role in strengthening the province’s health care system.
The hospital originally opened in 1931 but was later shutdown by the apartheid government for servicing children of all races. Since the first new facility opened in July 2013, more than thirty-five thousand young patients have had access to neurodevelopmental services. This accomplishment among others would not have been possible without the support of donors and the long-standing partnership with the KZN Department of Health.
