The Ivan Toms Clinic, built for R9.38 million provides healthcare for up to 500 patients per day from Mfuleni and surrounding areas.

The renaming of the clinic on Monday 30 June was attended by officials from the City of Cape Town and the province, health sector workers and local ward councillors. Speeches by various guests echoed the invaluable and significant contribution made by Toms.

Toms, who was the executive director of City Health at the time of his death, passed away almost three months ago after contracting meningitis.

Testimonials of Toms’s work in the health sector revealed valuable progress and breakthroughs in making quality health care accessible to all, especially to those from poorer communities.

According to Dr Ivan Bromfield, executive director of Health Services, the health facility provides all the medical services associated with primary health care.

Services include women and men’s health, contraception, sexual transmitted diseases, child health, immunisation, malnutrition, HIV and Aids testing and counselling, and a TB programme (screening and treatment).

A youth clinic, in a seperate unit with its own consulting room, also forms part of the facility.

Basic antenatal care as well as antiretroviral programmes are some of the specialised programmes patients have access to at the clinic.

A specialised unit from the University of Stellenbosch deals with TB.

The 16 qualified nurses are assisted by routine visits from doctors and Bromfield says the scheduled visits are determined by need.

The mayor of the City of Cape Town Mrs Helen Zille said at the official ceremony: “It’s a great honour to be here today with you to honour Dr Ivan Toms.”

Zille said Toms (54) distinguished himself in the city with his tremendous energy, commitment and enthusiasm for helping people and communities through his work.

She added that she worked with Toms for many years and he, together with others, worked hard to prevent and reduce the spread of HIV/Aids and TB infection rates in the city. Setting up of a health clinic in Crossroads was one of his earliest achievements.

Toms lectured in community health at the University of Cape Town, administered the South African Christian Leadership Assembly’s (Sacla) health project for four years before serving as the national coordinator of service development in the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network.

He was appointed as the director of Health Services for the City of Cape Town in 1999 and in 2006 appointed as executive director of City Health.

The clinic not only provides health care to the Mfuleni community, but also to surrounding areas such as Burundi, Endlovini, Khayelitsha RR section, Green Point and Unity Zone.

The provincial health minister Mr Pierre Uys joined Zille in the unveiling of the memorial plate. Uys said: “It’s an important day for us, not only to honour, but also celebrate the work of Dr Toms in primary health care.” Uys urged the community to take ownership of the facility and care for it, as it was created for them; to render services to them.

The Ivan Toms Clinic, on the corners of Umbashe and Nqubelani streets, Mfuleni operates from Mondays to Fridays between 7:30 and 16:30.