During the annual departmental awards ceremony, aimed at encouraging health facilities across the province to increase their responsiveness to the needs of patients, Elim hospital was declared as the best hospital in the province.

At the event held at the Ranch Motel, outside Polokwane last Tuesday, the MEC for Health and Social Development, Mr Seaparo Sekoati handed over a certificate of excellence and a platinum trophy to the CEO of Elim hospital, Dr MW Madzhivhandila. As a token of appreciation, the best hospital in terms of its continued improvement of efficient service delivery to patients also received a cash prize of R1 000.

The hospital´s liaison officer, Mr Avhatakali Marole, said the secret behind the hard work of Elim Hospital is that staff members and health practitioners strongly believe in team work. He described the employment of Dr Madzivhandila as the CEO of the hospital by the department as the right decision. "The CEO is always motivating us to do our best and he believes that, if the working environment is friendly, our patients will receive the quality service they deserve.’

Marole said that their relationship with the hospital board is also playing a central role. He claimed that, after every meeting, board members called imbizos within the operational area of the hospital to give the people feedback as well as seek ideas to improve service at the hospital. He also said that the management use the complaints they receive from the hospital´s suggestion box to improve their commitment of rendering efficient service.

"We are very proud of the award we received from our MEC; it will motivate us to keep on doing the good work for our people in order for us to keep on getting what we´ve received," he said.