The patients treated at George Hospital mainly comprise indigent and lower income groups within the community and are totally reliant on the availability of medical care at State owned hospitals. Whilst there are number of excellent Private Hospitals, the financial cost is beyond the capacity of the majority of the people in our community.

George Hospital is the referral centre for the satellite hospitals and clinics throughout the Garden Route District (Southern Cape and the Klein Karoo). It acts as both a regional and district hospital and serves an extensive and growing number of families.

Due to enormous pressure from the rapid population growth in the most disadvantaged communities in the Garden Route area, the paediatric wing of George Hospital is under abnormal strain. There is an urgent need for a bigger and better paediatric unit to address the vital need for treatment of these children. Funds are required for rebuilding a three storey paediatric unit comprising Paediatric Outpatients, Paediatric Ward, Neonatal and Kangaroo Mother Care and Parents Lodge. 

We are aware that funding is essential in the form of donations to cover the costs of the planned extensions. The George Hospital, has the reputation of being the best run Government hospital in South Africa. We are committed to sustain the growth and quality of services and building of additional facilities. Our mission is to make this possible with assistance from both local and international donations in order to accomplish this.

These may be large or small donations, each one contributing to the welfare, growth and improvements to the hospital through the George Hospital Trust.

George Hospital is also used as a valuable teaching facility for Medical Students from the University of Cape Town, who spend a year in George to gain hands on experience across the various departments.

The total cost of this initial redevelopment project will amount to some R90 million South African Rands.

George is a tranquil City with a colourful history, situated at the foot of the picturesque Outeniqua mountain range in the South Eastern part of the Western Cape. It is reputedly the sixth oldest city in South Africa and has, in addition to being a popular resort and conference centre, become the administrative and commercial hub of the world renowned Garden Route.

Originally established in 1776 as an outpost due to the growing demand for timber for building and furniture, the city of George was proclaimed as a town in 1811. It is named after the then reigning British monarch, King George III. Later, with the building of the Cathedral, it became a city. It is the sixth oldest city in South Africa.

Today it is a city with a fast growing population and industry. Its growth is due to several factors, not least of which is the beauty and relative peace of the area with a high number of people moving from the Northern and Eastern areas of South Africa to George and the surrounding towns.

George is the major centre for the whole of the Eden District which covers the Southern Cape and Klein Karoo. It has an excellent airport and road connections to the rest of South Africa.

 

The fact that the world renowned Medical School of the University of Cape Town incorporated the George Hospital as a teaching hospital in 2016, recognises its high standards of health care.  George Hospital is the referral centre for the satellite hospitals and clinics throughout the Garden Route District (Southern Cape and the Klein Karoo).  It acts as both a regional and district hospital and serves an extensive and growing number of families.

The vision of the famous old George Hospital is to provide the best quality health service that is possible in South Africa and to be the hospital of choice in this South Eastern area of the Cape and Karoo. To this end George Hospital has a Hospital Board, comprised of leading members of the community and the church as well as senior members of a highly focused and dedicated staff, under the management of a Chief Executive Officer, Michael Vonk.

Among the vital services to the community that George, now part of the much larger Garden Route District, provides, is the George Hospital, which is owned by the Western Cape Government and operates in the George Health district of the Southern Cape.  In what is known as a Regional Hospital, George Hospital has become the referral centre to all the hospitals in the Southern Cape/Karoo Region.  The Garden Route District ,as illustrated on the map, includes the towns situated in the districts outlined below in which a total of more than 750,000 people reside.  The initial impetus for the formation and building of the hospital in the early stages came from the flu epidemic of 1918.   

The mission of the George Hospital Trust is to raise awareness to the South African and international community of the critical need to grow the hospital facilities, including all the essential services, accommodation and equipment required to meet the growing demand of its residents, together with the necessity to raise funds to cover the development.

The initial fund raising is required to increase the number of wards, starting with the Paediatrics and Neo Natal Wards together with Kangaroo and  Mother care and Parents Lodge, for a parent to stay close to her child whilst in the hospital. The advent of a substantial number of patients from other African countries also, together with a growing retirement population in the salubrious surrounds of George itself, has caused a growth of pressure on the hospital at an above average rate.  

In meeting these challenges, George Hospital has established itself as a good, credible health care provider, having now close to 500 dedicated competent staff, providing care in 6 major disciplines, of which Paediatrics and Neo Natal Care, are very essential elements. These are squeezed into what are now inadequate and antiquated facilities.