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VISITING TIMES
When visiting a patient outside visiting hours, or when enquiring about a patient, you are required to report to the nursing staff in the ward or unit. Visiting hours to all wards and units are as follows, except when otherwise specified:
15h00 – 16h00
19h00 – 20h00
Ward C Ground
Visiting hours are continuous in the Childrens Ward.
Maternity ward
Only fathers and grandparents, and no children under the age of 13 years are allowed into the Maternity Ward during visiting hours.
High Care
Only 2 visitors per patient at any time are allowed with patients in the High Care Unit. No children under the age of 13 are allowed in the High care Unit.
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Nestled at the foot of the picturesque Outeniqua mountains, the town of George is the heart of the world-renowned Garden Route. Like-wise, George hospital, being a regional hospital, is the referral centre to all the hospitals in the Southern Cape/Karoo region.
In 1918 The community of George hospital started thinking about building a hospital. This idea was triggered by the flu epidemic that swept the country at that stages. Twelve years later the hospital, then known as the ‘cottage hospital’, was taken onto use, with 10 beds and three staff members.
Currently George hospital is a regional hospital, providing secondary level healthcare to the population of the Southern Cape/Karoo region. The population of the area totals 506,772.* Above 56% of the population is living in the urban areas, while just about 44% is living in rural areas. Poverty in the region is a very real problem, with the unemployment rate varying between 7% and 21% in the region. (The unemployment rate for George itself is 47%). Dependence on social grants is great, with the number of households in George with no income having increased with 470% over the last 5 years. The demand for healthcare for the indigent is thus quite high, and is further increased by the constant influx of patients from the Eastern Cape which cannot be quantified at this stage, as well as a growing number of patients from other African countries like Namibia, Ghana, Somalia, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, etc. who place an additional burden on the already stretched resources for healthcare in our area.
In addition to the above, the Southern Cape is also a popular retirement area, with people from particularly Gauteng and Orange Free State moving to the Southern Cape. This group previously utilized private healthcare, but now accesses government health services, demanding the equivalent of private care in terms of medication and procedures.
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Despite the challenges, George hospital has established itself as a good, credible healthcare provider, providing care in the 6 major disciplines (Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gyneacology, Aneasthetics and Orhtopaedics), as well as Psychiatry, Forensic Medicine, Family Medicine, Ophthalmology, Oncology, and Renal Medicine. All of these disciplines are run by a specialist-led team of doctors. They are complemented by competent nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, pharmacists, a dietician, occupational therapist, social worker and psychologist. Support services include administration, fees, admissions, finances, porters, drivers, a messenger, workshop staff, switchboard operators, and foodservices staff. Cleaning services is partially outsourced. The total staff establishment currently (October 2005) is 462, with some 43 agency workers.
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