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15 February 2021 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Charl Devenish
Quick and easy access to several health-care services under one roof. From the left, are Sister Sarien de Necker, Dr Arina Meyer, Dr Gerhard Jansen, Dr Elna Kleyn, and Sister Florence Maleho.


The University of the Free State Health Practice has been serving the UFS community for decades. Conveniently located on our Bloemfontein Campus, it offers quick and easy access to several health-care services under one roof. There is no need to struggle with your health or postpone check-ups – simply visit our UFS Health Practice for a pleasant experience. Our clientele ranges from UFS top management to staff/students with limited resources.

Several services and payment options

Over and above the general practitioner services, the physicians specialise in family health, travel medicine, and sport and exercise medicine. The practice also performs minor surgeries, treat non-sports related injuries, provide female health (PAP smears, contraception, etc.), and all blood tests. In addition, travellers can obtain vaccinations, and insurance policy examinations are also done. You can also get primary health care, physiotherapy, and biokinetic rehabilitation as part of the range of medical services offered at the UFS Health Practice. 

An appointment system limits the waiting time and walk-in emergencies are dealt with as needed. While the practice claims from medicals aids, UFS staff members have the option to deduct visiting costs from their salaries should their benefits be depleted. Non-medical aid patients can settle accounts by cash, card, or EFT. Students can also use their student accounts for doctor and physiotherapy visits within a capped amount. 

Convenient health care

The UFS Health Practice is open from Monday to Friday from 08:00 until 16:30, and mostly keep to its 15-minute consultation schedule, unless an emergency arises. Due to the unique setup, it can accommodate staff and student schedules, and the broader community is also welcome to make use of its services.

Dr Gerhard Jansen says quite a few staff members and their families are already visiting the practice, and they would love for more UFS employees to pay them a visit. “We are dedicated to our patients’ care and do regular follow-up calls to check on our patients’ health. When needed, we refer our patients for specialist care.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please:  
call: 051 401 2603/2530

News Archive

Ecofeminism a possibe solution to impending famine
2016-05-12

Description: Ecofeminism Tags: Ecofeminism

Dr Inge Konik (right) is pictured with her postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Bert Olivier, Senior Research Professor at the Department of Philosophy.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

In view of the environmental and social problems faced in South Africa today, researchers such as Dr Inge Konik are hard at work mapping these issues and seeking long-term solutions. Dr Konik,  a lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) shared her views in a presentation on 6 May 2016. She spoke about revaluing indigenous ways of life and subsistence-focused lifeways, linking this to materialist ecological feminism, or ecofeminism for short.

Dr. Konik’s presentation, hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was entitled: “Transversal reflections on ecological feminism and ubuntu.” The research underpinning the presentation derived from Dr Konik’s doctoral thesis which was supervised by Ariel Salleh (University of Sydney) and Andrea Hurst (NMMU).

Dr Konik’s research suggests that ecofeminism - which is a convergence between environmentalism and feminism - may hold the answers to the question of how we may work against environmental and social injustices. She also proposed that society look back toward subsistence communities of the past, and those currently being marginalized in our industrial societies, and linked the values evidenced in the practices of these communities to the African philosophty of ubuntu. In order to solve  complex contemporary challenges Dr Konik suggests that we combine these seemingly disparate theoretical frames - ubuntu and ecofeminism - by applying a transversal approach, which involves openness to dialogue  between traditions.

“My focus was on ecological feminism and critical theory and very specifically on South Africa, given the challeges South Africa faces - the environmental and social challenges and what kind of frameworks would be helpful,” said Dr Konik, who will officially become a postdoctoral research fellow at the department as of July 2016.

Prof Pieter Duvenage, Head of the Departement, stated that compelling research outputs are anticipated from Dr Konik as a fellow.

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