(from left) Cimas Health Group CEO Vuli Ndlovu, Dr Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese and Eben Makonese
BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
THE greatest legacy of the renamed Cimas Van Praagh Medical Centre should be the quality of healthcare patients receive, with medical professionals expected to uphold high standards of professionalism, compassion, dignity and respect.
The facility was renamed Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese Medical Centre in honour of the pioneering medical practitioner whose contribution to maternal and child health, women’s education and health equity helped shape Zimbabwe’s healthcare sector.
In 1970, Dr Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese made history as Zimbabwe’s first Black female medical doctor and the first African woman to graduate from her medical school. And as the only woman in a class of 25, she broke through formidable racial and gender barriers, demonstrating that talent, determination and excellence must never be limited by one’s background or circumstances.
Speaking at the renaming ceremony, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora, in a speech read on his behalf by Sally Mugabe Central Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Hopewell Mungani, said the institution’s legacy would ultimately be determined by the care delivered to patients rather than the name displayed at its entrance.
“However, the greatest tribute to her legacy will not be the name above this entrance, but the quality of care delivered within these walls. Every patient must encounter professionalism, compassion, dignity and respect,” said Dr Mombeshora.
Dr Hopewell Mungani
Dr Mombeshora added that Dr Nyamwanza-Makonese’s name should inspire a standard of service worthy of the distinction it represented.
He said the occasion also provided an opportunity to reflect on the need to build a healthcare system that expands access to services, improves quality and affordability, and ensures that no one is left behind.
A healthy population, he said, was central to human capital development, national productivity and sustainable economic growth as Zimbabwe implements the National Development Strategy 2 and advances towards Vision 2030.
“Our task is to build a health system that expands access, improves quality and affordability, and leaves no one behind.”
He called for stronger collaboration between Government, the private sector and other healthcare stakeholders, noting that no single institution had all the expertise, resources or capacity required to meet the country’s health needs.
Dr Mombeshora further said cooperation between public and private healthcare providers was particularly important in improving service delivery and ensuring that patients benefited from the complementary roles played by different institutions.
He said differences between healthcare providers and medical aid societies over tariffs, co-payments and settlements should be resolved through dialogue, transparency and fair, sustainable arrangements.
“The patient must never become the casualty of disputes between institutions that should be working together,” he said.
The country’s pursuit of Universal Health Coverage and reforms towards National Health Insurance required the participation of healthcare providers, funders, health professionals, academics, communities and other stakeholders, added Minister Mombeshora.
He said access to quality healthcare should not be determined solely by a person’s ability to pay.
Partnerships with the private sector would remain important in expanding service delivery, strengthening health financing, improving diagnostics, advancing innovation and mobilising investment.
And he reiterated that the success of these efforts should be measured by their impact on health outcomes, accessibility and affordability of services, and the resilience of the national health system.
Cimas Health Group Chief Executive Officer Vuli Ndlovu said the renaming of the facility was part of the organisation’s 80th anniversary legacy project, launched in August to honour individuals whose work had shaped the organisation and Zimbabwe’s healthcare sector.
“In the last 12 months, Cimas turned 80. And something like this makes you ask a simple question. Who carried us here? How did we get here? The answer is not your balance sheet, your building, it is people,” said Ndlovu.
Ndlovu said the organisation valued its relationship with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, adding that public and private healthcare providers served the same patients despite delivering services in different ways.
“The Ministry strongly on the public sector, we in the private sector. But we serve the same patient. So we keep working alongside government to widen access, to build the skills.”
Ndlovu also acknowledged Mashonaland Holdings, the owner and developer of the premises, for working with Cimas to deliver a purpose-built facility designed around the needs of patients and clinicians.
Dr Nyamwanza-Makonese’s husband, Eben Makonese, said the family was deeply honoured that the medical centre would carry her name.
He said the facility represented the values, compassion and dedication that his wife had demonstrated throughout her career.
Recalling her commitment to serving patients, he said that after she opened her private practice, she once prepared to go to work on Christmas Day in case a patient needed medical assistance.
“I looked at her, smiled, and thought to myself, sometimes even the most brilliant people have an absent-minded. I gently reminded her, my dear, today is Christmas. She looked back at me and calmly replied that she knew, but she had decided to drive to the surgery just in case a patient was waiting and needed help,” he said.
Makonese said the family hoped that everyone visiting the facility would receive not only high-quality medical expertise, but also the warmth, dignity and compassion associated with his wife.
Mashonaland Holdings Head of Property Services Progress Kamonere Sibanda said the development demonstrated the value of collaboration in creating facilities that enabled institutions to fulfil their purpose.
She said the company was proud to have partnered with Cimas in developing a medical centre designed around the organisation’s healthcare needs.
Sibanda said the facility should become a centre of excellence, compassion and healing, carrying forward the pioneering spirit of the woman whose name it bears.
