The Denis Hurley Centre Opens an Outreach Clinic

by Erin Carelse · Published September 23, 2017 · Updated September 21, 2017

Some of the stakeholders who made the new Denis Hurley Centre clinic possible are (from left) Container World MD Christopher Lee, former Councillor S Zungu, SCI manager at Container World Terri Clapperton, Dalton Hostel committee chair Mthembiseni Thusi, Councillor Mpumelelo Zuma, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Hurley Centre director Raymond Perrier, eThekwini municipality representative Eurakha Singh, and Container World financial director Craig Roodt.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban has blessed a container clinic for the homeless, run by the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC).

The new outreach clinic was formally opened with a blessing ceremony in the Dalton Beer Hall complex near Umbilo in Durban.

The DHC’s clinic team has been offering healthcare at Dalton for two years, with an evening clinic once a week under a gazebo or from a bakkie. The clinics have provided urgently needed healthcare to those living in poor conditions with a lack of sanitation.

Now, with a permanent clinic, better healthcare is possible.

“Finally, we can provide healthcare whatever the weather and can treat people with the dignity they deserve,” said clinic coordinator MaryAnne Carpenter.

At the official opening, Cardinal Napier blessed the clinic, its patients, staff and volunteers, and thanked the partners who made this project possible.

“From the first time I came to Dalton and saw the work of the Denis Hurley Centre clinic team I was moved by the plight of these neglected citizens of Durban, living in squalor and with no access to healthcare,” he said.

“They are children of God and deserve our loving care.”

Donated Container Converted into 4-Room Clinic

Thanks to Container World, which donated and converted a container into the four-room clinic, people can be treated in a clean, safe and private environment.

Support also came from the Umbilo Business Forum, Lead Architects, We Are Durban, and University of KwaZulu-Natal medical students.

The local eThekwini municipality and the South Durban Area Management team prepared and secured the site, and will soon be connecting up water and electricity supplies.

The municipality has provided fencing and temporary toilets.

The Dalton clinic means that the DHC healthcare team can see a further 400 patients in the community, in addition to the 600 they already see on the streets and 2000 they serve at the clinic at the Denis Hurley Centre.

The new clinic provides the only source of healthcare accessible to many local Dalton people, including those with TB and HIV.

Support from Many Areas of the Community

UKZN medical students will join clinic staff to provide daily health service.

The eThekwini municipality has also committed to creating a drop-in centre for social services, to be run by Safer Cities.

Members of the Umbilo Business Forum have supported the project too, and the yard of the clinic has been converted into a vegetable garden.

DHC director Raymond Perrier acknowledged all the partners involved.

“This project is a model for Durban. We have shown how we can bring together a neglected community with NGOs, corporates, the university, media and municipal departments to make a real difference in the city,” he said, adding: “If only it didn’t take two years to get done.”

For more information, contact the Denis Hurley Centre on 031 301 2240 or MaryAnne Carpenter on 073 681 7766.