Corporate 24 bringing world class health services to Bulawayo

27 Nov, 2016 - 00:11 0 Views
Corporate 24 bringing world class health  services to Bulawayo Corporate 24 chief executive officer Dr Mike Joka

The Sunday News

Corporate 24 chief executive officer Dr Mike Joka

Corporate 24 chief executive officer Dr Mike Joka

EARLY this month, Medical Centre Corporate 24, expanded its business operations to Bulawayo, fulfilling a $3,5 million investment project that was started in 2013.

Sunday News Senior Business Reporter Roberta Katunga (RK) sat down with Dr Mike Joka (MJ), the chief executive officer of Corporate 24 to discuss investment in specialised medical centres in the country, the country’s healthcare system and the expansion into the region. Dr Joka shared his vision of having Corporate 24 listed on the local bourse as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

RK: Firstly, Dr Joka, congratulations on opening your doors to Bulawayo. What was the vision behind expanding to the city at a time when the economy is performing badly and Bulawayo is well known to have been hit by company closures?

MJ: Thank you Roberta. The Corporate 24 Bulawayo project was initiated in 2013 and at that time the economy was showing signs of recovery hence the need for the $3,5 million investment. Our reasons for investment were to give the people of Bulawayo world class healthcare services which we feel they lacked. However, health remains a basic need so whether industries close people will still get sick and they will need the hospitals. The performance might not be 100 percent but it will be enough to make the investment sustainable.

RK: You mentioned in your opening speech that you will be announcing Corporate 24 partnerships with Indian hospital groups. How is that going to help the people of Bulawayo?

MJ: Zimbabwe has been losing over $20 million through medi-tourism annually and this has been a result of people seeking services outside our borders. The birth of these strategic partnerships will go a long way in cutting the revenue leakages and provide our people with cost effective healthcare solutions. The same complicated surgeries that people were going to India or South Africa for will be done right here at reduced costs, less all the travelling expenses by the same expert hands.

RK: Are there any plans to expand to other cities in the country or beyond the country’s borders?

MJ: We will be opening another Medical Centre in Old Marimba in Harare in March and we will continue to spread our tentacles into other cities as well particularly Gweru, Masvingo and Mutare. Our appetite is now towards expansion into the region. This is hugely because of the dysfunctional regulation that the health care sector has in our country. The game is heavily tilted against service providers and in favour of medical aids. Quite sadly the same medical aid members who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of world class services will end up the losers.

RK: Where do you see Corporate 24 in the next five years?

MJ: Corporate 24 will not only be the biggest player in the domestic market but it will be a force to reckon with in the region. Probably, we will be listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange or even the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

RK: According to the Zimbabwe Investment Authority, there are no medical facilities in the country and investment in specialised medical centres is needed for health care. As a businessperson in that particular sector, what do you think are the issues hindering the development of adequate medical facilities?

MJ: Specialised medical investments are multi-million dollar investments which are very capital intensive in nature, as such it is important that the investment authority should do an assessment to see if the current nature of the sector, its laws and the way it is regulated brings confidence to any serious investor to consider us a competitive destination. Lobbying for reforms where necessary is definitely the way to go because as it stands, investors are not considering investing in anything meaningful here.

RK: As a businessman, you have been described as an innovative entrepreneur, what in your opinion needs to be done to boost the health delivery system in the country?

MJ: If it wasn’t for my innovative nature I wouldn’t have grown Corporate 24 to be the brand it is today. Innovative ideas and concepts should be in line with global efforts to reduce the cost of healthcare solutions while still guaranteeing quality for them to thrive.

RK: In your own opinion, what does the Government need to do to help the sector get into the next level and offer acceptable healthcare to the people of Zimbabwe?

MJ: First and foremost the regulator needs to make the industry water tight by crafting a new bill to ensure that all the players play by the rules.

Secondly the laws need to revert to the original laws before the 2004 amendment which prohibited medical aids to run medical facilities to concentrate on their core business so that sanity can prevail in the sector.

Lastly, I believe Government should enforce a serious payment plan to see to it that the PSMAS debt is cleared to allow growth and continuity in the sector. Stopping at protecting PSMAS assets from getting attached is not good enough because PSMAS being the biggest player affects the whole sector and unfortunately a lot of service providers have suffered as result of lack of progress on the issue.

RK: What is the general outlook of business in the health care sector and business in general in the country?

MJ: It is not a secret that our economy is struggling, demand for healthcare services like any other industry continues to fall due to unemployment, lack of income and company closures among other factors. Markets keep shrinking; investor confidence and Foreign Direct Investments are nowhere to be found. The coming in of the bond notes and the uncertainty on what the future holds remains a drag. Zimra on the other hand remains a huge challenge for our sector. Our tax position remains affected by money in unpaid claims stuck in medical aids like PSMAS which we have not received for years but Zimra expects us to remit.

We end up using the little money we have generated to pay them leaving our businesses gasping for air. There is a lot of misalignment in the balance between demand and supply at all levels. The environment is very tough to be honest.

Another issue is the lawlessness of other players in the sector who have played a very destabilising and negative role in creating an environment conducive for further investment. We invested in the sector because we factored the existing laws and if another player who is supposed to be paying you as the insurer of your clients flouts all the laws with impunity it becomes very worrisome.

RK: Dr Joka, thank you for your time and all the best in your future endeavours.

 

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