A 612-bed referral hospital and eleven outreach clinics, jointly run with the Western Cape Department of Health, serving 184,000 patient consultations a year across the Central Karoo.
Tswelopele Teaching Hospital was founded in 1973, two years after the faculty itself, on the principle that medicine in the Karoo had to be made here or it would not happen. Fifty-three years later, Tswelopele is the largest referral centre between Cape Town and Bloemfontein, the only tertiary hospital serving the Central Karoo District, and the clinical home of the Karoo Faculty.
It runs as a partnership between the University of the Karoo and the Western Cape Department of Health, with a small ringfence of additional capacity funded directly by the faculty for research, training and specialist outreach. Every consultant on staff is a clinical academic. Every ward is a teaching ward. Every patient who walks through the door is helping the next generation learn the work.
Most of our patients never see the main Tswelopele site. They are seen in their own districts, by clinical teams who rotate out from the central campus into outreach clinics in Beaufort West, Murraysburg, Prince Albert, Laingsburg, Sutherland, Fraserburg, Williston, Carnarvon, Victoria West, Richmond and Britstown. The outreach network handled 71% of all consultations last year. A consistent referral path moves anything more complex into Tswelopele’s specialist departments.
A 24-hour A&E and the regional trauma centre. Lead site for the Karoo Rural Emergency Medicine Fellowship.
If you live in the Central Karoo, your nearest clinic is your first stop. Anything we cannot manage there, we will refer to Tswelopele on your behalf.
Donkin Street · 023 414 0890 · General, maternal, paediatric, TB/HIV
Tswelopele is a referral hospital. If your local clinic or GP has referred you here, please bring your referral letter, your ID, your clinic card and any medication you are currently taking. Bring a family member or supporter if you can. Most clinics run on a scheduled-list basis and not first-come-first-served — please attend at the time on your letter.
Main entrance is on Donkin Street. The information desk in the lobby will direct you to your clinic. Wheelchair-accessible entry, prayer rooms and a small family waiting area are signposted from there.
Tswelopele is a public hospital. Most consultations are means-tested according to the Uniform Patient Fee Schedule. Bring proof of income if you have it. The hospital accepts all major South African medical aid schemes for paying patients.
Front-of-house staff speak Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa. Sesotho and Khoekhoegowab interpretation is available on request — please mention this when you arrive.
Our specialist intake desk handles referrals from anywhere in South Africa. We respond to most non-urgent referrals within two working days.
Refer a patient