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Leonard Ncube [email protected]
CIMAS Health Group has opened 14 primary healthcare clinics countrywide to enhance access to health closer to communities.

Cimas was established in 1945 and 79 years later the group boasts of close to 60 facilities countrywide including laboratories, specialised dental and dialysis clinics, evacuation and rescue services and others.

The facilities are dotted around the country in major urban areas.

Cimas partnered with the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (Zuj) to make the media appreciate the group’s work and help inform and educate citizens about health cover.

This comes at a time when only less than 10 percent of the country’s over 15 million population has health coverage according to the Association of Health Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ).

The first Cimas facility was Medlabs which was set up in 1985 in Harare and remains the main laboratory followed by the recently refurbished state-of-the-art lab in Bulawayo where between 3 000 and 3 500 clients are attended to every month.

Cimas has stood the test of time and now has six fully fledged labs and collection centres bringing to 15 the total number of laboratories, chief operating officer Mrs Thando Kembo said.

The first and only dialysis for kidney failure was established in 1999 at a time when the public sector was struggling.

The first primary health clinic was established in 2003.

The idea of setting up clinics came when the economy of the country was not performing well and doctors were not accepting aid cards.

Journalists from various private and public media houses in the Southern region on Friday visited the Cimas laboratory, dental unit and Cimas clinic in Bulawayo to familiarise themselves with the facilities and services.

From state-of-the-art equipment to dedicated staff and world-class services, so is the state of affairs at the Cimas facilities.

At the clinic, patients and clients do self-service where they get a ticket at the entrance which will give them a waiting pass according to the time they arrived hence eliminating issues of jumping the queue.

The elderly and those seeking baby clinic services are attended to separately as the ticketing system classifies them.

An electronic file is opened for each client and all offices from reception to the consultation room and examination room automatically pick the same ticket on the system clients do not need anyone to control the queue as the system will be calling out the next person.

The seamless and paperless service has improved service such that between 2 000 and 3 000 people are attended to every month, with 10 to 20 percent of them coming from outside Bulawayo.

A variety of conditions including chronic illnesses are treated at the clinic.

There are two or three resident doctors at any given time.

Patients and clients include even non-Cimas members while the on-site pharmacy also serves anyone with a prescription.

The pharmacy is usually stocked as procurement is done centrally at the main centre in Harare and dispatched to all 14 clinics and one pharmacy.

“We are very proud of that dialysis and we have some of our patients living longer. In 2003 we opened a primary facility housing general practitioner doctors and doing minor procedures. The model has worked by giving members access and engaging meaningfully with doctors.

“In 2014 we started the emergency evacuation business, the Cimas Rescue where we are doing ambulance services and we are in the process of setting up a base in Bulawayo for that rescue business. We also do air rescue business. In 2016 we set up iGO Cimas which is about wellness pushing the dimensions of wellness, the physical, and financial wellness. To date, we have invested in over 57 facilities countrywide and we are looking at other places of investment,” said Mrs Kembo.

The dental unit was opened in 2021.

Cimas held the Cimas iGO half marathon in Bulawayo on Sunday as part of improving men’s health, particularly against prostate cancer.

Said Mrs Kembo: “We look forward to partnering with you more in spreading not only the message of health but also the message of wellness.”

Cimas chief executive Mr Vulindlela Ndlovu said the group strives to enhance global standard health.

“We are here to inspire communities by providing global standard health. We are about making sure our members live longer, happier healthier lives which is why we put emphasis on wellness. We want to improve health outcomes.

“Of course we want the public sector to look after us but as a developing country we can’t afford that, so as the private sector, we are saying let’s also do something about access to health. We at Cimas are doing that, we want to reach as many people as possible and we need to put our heads together,” he said.

The Government is working on National Health Insurance which will cover vulnerable members of the society and public sector workers with access to primary healthcare in an effort to attain universal access to health which is a key component of the National Development Strategy towards Vision 2030.

-@ncubeleon