Profica providing a good dose of development for the healthcare sector

Profica, one of South Africa’s leading construction and property solutions companies, has recently been appointed by Netcare to undertake work on a number of the company’s capital programmes.
With a wealth of experience gained from over a decade operating in South Africa and on the African continent, Profica’s expertise within the healthcare sector further expands their footprint of services.

Work for Netcare includes the delivery of an oncology bunker in their Krugersdorp hospital, Pinehaven; and development of Netcare’s two largest capital projects in the Gauteng region.

Matthew Renshaw, Director of Profica, says that having in-house expertise specifically related to the healthcare sector and an understanding of the sector’s drivers – from both a public and private-sector perspective – provides huge value to their clients. He says, “Although the development for healthcare is not dissimilar to any other commercial asset, what sets the healthcare property solution apart is the complexity associated to the design of the building, and the creation of environments suitable for different clinical areas. You’ll find a very different design solution for healthcare buildings.”

In addition to the capital projects, Profica acts as the client representative on various re-development projects for Netcare. Renshaw says, “We represent the client on capital projects as well as existing refurbishments and extensions. Locating a small, skilled team at Netcare’s offices allows us to be as close to the business as possible, where we are able to gain the necessary insight into processes and approaches, that better positions us to respond to our clients needs.”

Profica’s work for the healthcare sector extends beyond South Africa’s borders to the continent via its well-established offices in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria, where a large hospital project in Lagos is imminent. The healthcare sector in these regions is buoyant: according to the International Finance Corporation the sector is valued at USD 70-billion this year. This, coupled with the launch of national health schemes in some African jurisdictions over the next few years, and local private equity firms looking to invest in healthcare on the continent, makes it a sector worth considering.

Profica is also eager to become involved in South Africa’s public-sector healthcare initiatives. Preparations are afoot to develop the National Health Insurance programme and this will require healthcare infrastructure development at the grassroots, clinic level through to district and tertiary hospitals. A very different approach to private healthcare, Profica believes that public-sector healthcare presents huge opportunities. Renshaw says, “There are far more levels to public-sector healthcare, and each of these needs to be revitalised in order to feed into the larger system. Government has begun by planning the development of some of its major academic hospitals, with plans to cascade revitalisation through to each level. The potential opportunities are enormous.”