The current timeline for the commissioning of the new Tygerberg Central Hospital is in the 2033/34 financial year, says Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Tygerberg Hospital public-private partnership (PPP) project officer Klaas Langenhoven.

The long-delayed project to build the new facility was first announced in 2009.

The existing Tygerberg Hospital opened its doors in 1976.

The new facility will be located on the same site as the current hospital, on the western side of the campus.

Langenhoven says the 893-bed facility received TA1 approval – the first in a string of  approvals required – from the National Treasury in November 2022.

Current planning is for the request for proposals to be issued to the market in July next year, with the preferred bidder to be announced in July 2028.

Financial close should then be reached in April 2029, which will allow construction to start.

The estimated project cost is R10-billion, including equipment.

Excluded from the PPP will be clinical healthcare services, health technology and furniture and the X-Block, which encompasses 47 oncology beds.

Included in the PPP during the concession period will be operations, lifecycle costs, maintenance demands, as well as key soft services, says Langenhoven.

He notes that the PPP is structured so that the private party will design, finance, build and maintain the hospital over the contract life.

The PPP payment arrangement is to include a single capital contribution from the Western Cape government at the end of construction, with unitary payments beginning from the start of operations to the end of the contract.

Unitary fees are regular fees paid by a government institution to the private partner in a PPP. It covers the private party’s costs for building, running, and keeping up public infrastructure, and is only paid if agreed service levels are met.

Indicative timelines for the project is for a 4.5-year construction period, with the concession period set at 20 years.

Langenhoven says delivery through a PPP will offer a number of benefits, including transferring certain risks to the various parties best able to manage those risks, as well as the introduction of private sector innovation and efficiency in executing complex infrastructure projects.

He says this should leave the Western Cape government with a well-maintained asset with a fair residual life at the end of the contract.

* Langenhoven delivered a presentation at the recent Western Cape Infrastructure Ministerial Roundtable.