Health facility an X-ray of light in dark times
Married to a former Minister of Health, Ratanang Madigele knows better than most the chaos that occurs in the country’s hospitals and clinics, where long delays and lack of equipment are all too common.
In some government facilities, the backlogs are so severe patients can wait weeks just to use the X-Ray machine!
Keen to help ease the strain, the 37-year-old Kanye native saw fit to offer an alternative, opening Phase 4 Imaging and Laboratories, a business she formed in 2020, when Covid-19 was at its most deadly.
Located in Gaborone’s Phase 4 suburbs, the diagnostic centre offers an array of services, including: X-Rays, Ultrasound Scans, blood tests and Mammography (an X-Ray imaging procedure used to detect and diagnose breast diseases, particularly breast cancer).
Although it is a field locals rarely venture into, Madigele’s enterprise is in good health after five relatively successful years.
“Radiography is a scare skill in our country. Most game players or business owners are foreign nationals and also employ foreigners; venturing into this business has not only proven that also a Motswana can own and run this kind of business to a success, and also employ our fellow countrymen,” notes the Public Relations and Marketing graduate.
Madigele, who acts as the General Manager, tells Voice Money starting in the midst of a global pandemic was tricky but meant they were busy from the very beginning.
“We managed to assist an influx of patients who tested positive or had symptoms of Covid-19 with minimal staff on duty. The maximum number of patients assisted per day would range from 20 to 70, though we were a new establishment,” reveals Madigele, adding being able to make a positive difference during such a grim moment in history remains one of their proudest achievements.
“X-ray Imaging is a very important tool in diagnoses of various conditions,” notes Madigele, whose facility caters for both private patients and clients covered by medical aid, with X-Rays starting from as little as P300.
Heavily dependent on referrals from private and public institutes, Phase 4 Imaging and Laboratories also gets support from government as part of their occupational health annual medical examinations.
To date the facility operates with five trained health professionals namely: Radiologist, Radiographer, Patient-care Manager, General Manager and an Assistant.
“Our clientele is satisfied with our services; we measure this with the number of frequent visits of families and individuals, as well as retained clients. Our practice offers immediate service that helps us prioritize clients who are booked for later dates in the local facilities. We are a technologically oriented business; our machines are of the latest technology, with calibration and routine services being carried out in timely manner. Our radiological reports and images are shared digitally which sets us apart from other providers and is very efficient. We value and treat our clients equally; we serve them on first come first serve basis, and by so doing, we were forced to scrap off appointment system as our facility also attend to emergencies,” explains Madigele, who gets her equipment predominantly from China and Germany.
Going forward, the plan is to build on their offerings, with an Oncology Centre, MRI and CT Scans all in the pipeline.
“Our arising challenge now is space; adding extra services require more space, hence limiting us from growth. Modernization is another challenge. Sending out X-Ray images in digital format restricts us to help patients referred by some of our local facilities since they request for print outs, which is currently being phased out across the industry,” explains the big-dreaming businesswoman.
