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26 November 2020
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Story Leonie Bolleurs
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Mind Matters is a first for the UFS. It is a mental-health publication for students aimed at highlighting what matters most when it comes to your mind, life, and well-being. Some sections share how individuals in the top echelons of the UFS take care of their minds. Other sections focus on how to support your grey matter (i.e. your brain) and, consequently, improve your general functioning. Some parts discuss matters related to careers, well-being, finance, and self-development. We also provide news and resources that might matter to you.
Whatever your fancy, Mind Matters focuses primarily on why the health of your mind matters. Our minds and brains are the most powerful intelligence or apparatuses on the planet. A power like this needs to be wielded wisely, otherwise we may suffer much from our own neglect of our mental health. It’s not always easy, but it is important!
Mind Matters was possible due to the cumulative contributions, inputs, and work of numerous UFS professionals, especially within
Student Affairs. We are grateful and proud of each person involved. We endeavour to honour these efforts by continually improving and developing Mind Matters. Your feedback and voices are most welcome and will continue to inform what we do next.
Neonatal Care Unit receives donation to expand capacity
2015-10-28
 With the best care and technology available,
the survival rate of premature
babies is about 85%. The neonatal intensive
care unit at the Universitas hospital can now
expand its capacity thanks to a donation of
R1 million by the Discovery fund.
From the left is Prof André Venter.
Head: Department of Paediatrics and
Child Health at the UFS, and mrs Ruth Lewin,
Head: Corporate Sustainability at Discovery.
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The smallest people need the greatest care. This care is being provided by the neonatal unit in the Children’s Wing of the Universitas Hospital. This project of the University of the Free State (UFS), under the leadership of Prof Andre Venter, has led to several miracles regarding child health since its inception.
Now, thanks to a donation of R1 million rand from the Discovery fund, this unit can expand its capacity and treat more premature babies.
About 14% of babies in South Africa are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. These babies are born with a very low birth weight, and are in need of critical care. The neonatal intensive-care unit at Universitas Hospital is currently equipped to take care of about 14 premature babies at a time, from birth to discharge. However, because of the high incidence of premature births in the hospital’s service area, the unit needs about 45 beds.
The aim of the Children’s Wing Project is to expand the neonatal intensive-care unit in order to meet the demands of the hospital’s service area, which reaches as far as the Southern Cape. The Discovery Fund recently donated R1 million to the project, which will be used to expand the capacity of the neonatal intensive-care unit.
“With the best care and technology available, the survival rate of premature babies is about 85%. Without this, half of all premature babies would die,” says Prof Venter, Head: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS.
“This is the reason why private and public partnerships, such as the one with Discovery, are essential to make specialised services available to the most vulnerable people. Discovery has made a significant contribution to the project without which we would not have been able to expand the capacity of the unit