Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
14 June 2019 | Story Eloise Calitz
University Consortium Launch
From left: Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State; Prof Pagollang Motloba, Chairperson of the Universities Consortium Steering Committee (Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University); Ms Montseng Margaret Ts’Iu, MEC, Department of Health in the Free State Province; and Mr Dan Mosia, Project Management Unit, Wits Health Consortium and member of the UFS Council.
Access to health care is important to all South Africans. Improved delivery of health-care services and employment of health-care graduates is one of the key priorities of the Universities Consortium. To achieve this, the National Department of Health (NDoH) – through a closed bid – invited universities with health-science faculties to bid for the testing of contracting mechanisms in the public health-care sector.

The bid brought six universities together to form the Universities Consortium. Through a collaborative approach, they will implement the newly developed service-delivery model.  Within the next three years, the consortium aims to impact the communities they serve in a positive way by providing much needed health-care services across the nine provinces.

The Universities Consortium comprises:

• University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
• Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University
• University of Fort Hare
• University of Pretoria
• Nelson Mandela University
• University of the Free State

The launch

The launch of the consortium was held on 6 June 2019 in the Centenary Complex at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. This provided an opportunity for fruitful engagements with representatives from the consortium. The launch was attended by the MEC of Health in  the Free State Province, Ms Montseng Margaret Ts’lu, who welcomed the commitment of the universities in the consortium and thanked them for lending a helping hand to make sure that government succeed in providing these health services.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, said the role of the university is to educate, train, and do continuous research to keep up to date with developments in various disciplines in order to enable positive change in the quality of life in our society. "Our knowledge should be used to impact our communities," Prof Petersen said. He further stated that it would be important that the ideas generated would provide much needed access to health care for all South Africans.

 The purpose of the Universities Consortium

1. The Universities Consortium will support national health delivery by assisting in the employment of graduates providing services while they complete their statutory internships/community service period.  
2. The consortium will also provide administrative and technical support to the NDoH. 
3. Universities will train professionals in accredited facilities.
4. The Universities Consortium proposed an operating model that will ensure the placement of health professionals in academic primary-care complexes.  
5. To align with the objectives of the NHI Bill 2018, the model envisages the academic primary-care complex as a contracting unit to promote sustainable, equitable, appropriate, efficient, and effective public funding for the purchasing of health-care services.
6. Wits Health Consortium (WHC), a wholly owned company of the University of the Witwatersrand, will support the Universities Consortium with key project management, financial, and administrative support for the duration of the project.

One of the key drivers of success for the Universities Consortium is collaboration and the effective implementation of this model. In the long term, the model will have a significant impact on health-care service delivery and job creation in this sector.

WATCH: NHI Universities Consortium Launch

News Archive

Walk to Cape Town closes on high note
2014-06-03

Photo Gallery of arrival in Cape Town
Dagbreek interview (kykNet) (YouTube)
Thank you from all UFS students (YouTube)

It was a gruelling road totalling a distance of 1 038 km, but the UFS #NSHstride team completed the challenge of walking all the way to Cape Town.

On Thursday 1 May 2014, Adéle van Aswegen and Ntokozo Nkabinde, both from the UFS, took on the road to Cape Town on foot in order to highlight the problem of food insecurity among students at the UFS.

Two kind-hearted Bloemfontein residents, Nico Piedt and Ronél Warner, tackled the journey together with them, not only to draw the country’s attention to food insecurity, but also to raise money to address the problem.

The hike, known as the No Student Hungry 1000/33 stride (or #NSHstride), came to an end at the St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Tuesday 3 June 2014.

About R500 000 were raised before, during and after the foursome’s hike.

The NSH bursary, established in 2011 by Prof Jonathan Jansen, the Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, and Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, aims to put food insecurity among students at the UFS under the spotlight.

Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, says: “We are completely inspired by the victory of a 1 000 km with one step at a time – as it reminds us of the courage of our students who beat hunger one day at a time.”

“The stride team challenges us to change our world for the better every day. We hope to continue their victory for students by challenging all universities to join the struggle for food security and will call a colloquium in this regard in October.”

These boots are made for walking ... to Cape Town (Article of 02 May 2014)
“Aren’t auntie and them hungry yet?” Country folk worried about NSH hikers (15 May 2014)
UFS hikers to Cape Town reflect on their journey (Article of 26 May 2014)

Daily updates:
(You can also follow us on @UFSweb for daily tweets)

Day 33: 2 June 2014
13:40
20 km
Sunset Beach, Cape Town

Day 32: 1 June 2014
16:05
26 km
Mervyn and Sanet Wessels, Belville

Day 31: 31 May 2014
16:31
39.6 km
Rhonell and Gavin Julain, Paarl

Day 30: 30 May 2014
14:00
16 km
Monte Rosa, Rawsonville

Day 29: 29 May 2014
13:16
31 km
The Habit, Worcester

Day 28: 28 May 2014
11:00
22.4 km
Monte Roza, De doorns

Day 27: 27 May 2014
17:00
21.1 km
Karoo Hotel

Day 26: 26 May 2014
18:27
43.3 km
Tows river

Day 25: 25 May 2014
12:18
Lord Milner Hotel, Matjiesfontein

Day 24: 24 May 2014
16:30
42 km
Laingsburg Country Lodge

Day 23: 23 May 2014
17:32
41.8 km
Vergenoeg

Day 22: 22 May 2014
16:42
43 km
Assendelft Lodge and Bush Camp, Prins Albert

Day 21: 21 May 2014
15:09
42 km
Leeu Gamka Hotel

Day 20: 20 May 2014
13:39
20 km
Alida, Springfontein

Day 19: 19 May 2014
12:31
27.6 km
Teri Moja Game Lodge

Day 18: 18 May 2014
First rest day
Nagenoeg Guesthouse, Beaufort West

Day 17: 17 May 2014
19:30
62.3 km
Nagenoeg Guesthouse, Beaufort West

Day 16: 16 May 2014
13:00
14 km
Taaibochfontein

Day 15: 15 May 2014
16:03
32 km
Travalia, Three Sisters

Day 14: 14 May 2014
18:33
43 km
Joalani Guest Farm

Day 13: 13 May 2014
17:30
33 km
Die Rondawels

Day 12: 12 May 2014
16:49
40 km
Aandrus B&B in Richmond

Day 11: 11 May 2014
39 km
Wortelfontein (Magdel and Christiaan)

Day 10: 10 May 2014
15:44
34 km
Hanover Lodge

Day 9: 09 May 2014
40.8 km
Camping between Colesberg and Hanover

Day 8: 08 May 2014
15:25
33.7 km
Colesberg, The Lighthouse Guesthouse

Day 7: 07 May 2014
15:08
23 km
Orange River Lodge

Day 6: 06 May 2014
15:57
51.06 km
Gariep Forever Resort

Day 5: 05 May 2014
12:18
28 km
Rondefontein

Day 4: 04 May 2014
15:27
35 km
Trompsburg: Fox Den

Day 3: 03 May 2014
17:30
46.74 km
Edenburg Country Lodge (Hotel)

Day 2: 02 May 2014
11:44 am
15.3 km
Tom's Place

Day 1: 01 May 2014
32 km
Leeuwberg

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept