by Tawanda Musariri

Medical Investments Limited, owners of the Avenues Clinic has poured $10 million into upgrading the flagship Avenues Clinic in Harare.

The first phase of the ambitious program, which is partly funded by Nedbank, is going to run for 11 months, said group CEO and Managing Director, Mr Searchmore Chaparadza to delegates attending the groundbreaking ceremony at the clinic Monday.

The other part of the funding will come from the group shareholders.

The refurbishment process is going to see the Clinic refurbishing all patient bathrooms, theatres and other outbuildings to meet the taste of the institution’s high end market. The 176 bed clinic’s bathrooms are all ensuites and rooms are wired with satellite TV and paid for direct telephones for each patient.

Together with infrastructural upgrades, the facility will also see the clinic upgrade its equipment to create the requisite ambience and utilitarian value meeting global standards.

Chaparadza told the Harare Post that his organisation wants to tap into the patient market that travels outside the country seeking specialized care.

“The whole idea is to capture that market of patients who go outside the country. We believe we have the right skills in Zimbabwe, we just need to upgrade our facilities is some areas and we will be able to capture that market. The kind of service we give has to be backed by the right type of equipment,” he said.

The group also runs two other upmarket medical institutions in Harare, St Clements and Montagu Clinics.

Group Chairman, Mr Pearson Chitando and other board members attended the ceremony.

On concerns that the upgraded facility may fail to attract users on pricing issues, Chaparadza said there was need to establish dialogue among all stakeholders in the medical industry in order to arrest the pricing bottlenecks affecting their industry.