Al-Qalam 
Driven by the efforts of Dr Bux, a third private hospital, the Hibiscus Hospital in Scottburgh is set to open this month making superior health care facilities more accessible to people in the area, writes Nabeelah Shaikh.
Dr Bux’s dream was to make quality private healthcare more accessible to people. And so, he set out on a mission to achieve this.
Bux, a 62-year-old General Practitioner on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, has been in the medical profession for more than three decades. He obtained his medical degree from India’s Manipal University in 1986, after which he returned to South Africa and worked at a hospital in Mthatha, where he helped set up its Department of Family Medicine. He later went into private practice and is now at the forefront of establishing private healthcare facilities, in areas where there is a dire need for them.
Bux is the founder and chairman of the Hibiscus Hospital Group.
The group boasts three private hospitals; Hibiscus Hospital Port Shepstone, Hibiscus Hospital Cato Ridge, and the newly built Hibiscus Hospital Scottburgh which is set to open this month.
For Bux, this journey started back in 1989, with the establishment of Port Shepstone’s first private hospital.
“Having been a GP in Port Shepstone, one of the challenges was that there was no private hospital in the area. The patients that needed admission, had to be sent to public hospitals. Those who were on medical aid, and other patients, were being charged private fees, based on their income. So, the thought occurred to me, if they are paying private fees and receiving second grade service, why not establish a private hospital in Port Shepstone,” said Bux.
The Hibiscus Day Clinic in Port Shepstone was then established in 1989.
As the demand for private healthcare increased, a 40-bed hospital was opened in 1990.
It then went from being a 40-bed facility to a now first class, 150-bed hospital.
More recently, Bux opened the Hibiscus Hospital Cato Ridge.
“It is a 58 bed hospital which services Cato Ridge and surrounding areas. It was opened in 2020, just when the COVID-19 pandemic hit,” said Bux.
This was another community he identified where there was no private healthcare facility available.
“There are lots of employees both in the state and private sector, who have medical insurance. I don’t think it’s fair for them to go and have to wait in a state facility because of the chronic shortage of beds, when they can afford private healthcare. The state hospitals could have more space for needy patients. It can help ease the burden on state hospitals. Therefore establishing these hospitals were so important,” said Bux.
Aside from being the chairman of the Hibiscus Hospital Group, in 2018, Bux was invited to join the board of Durban’s Ahmed Al-Kadi Private Hospital.
In 2019, he was appointed chairperson of the hospital and currently still holds the position.
At the centre of leading these healthcare facilities, Bux says service to humanity was important.
“The Ahmed Al-Kadi hospital along with the Islamic Medical Association, are involved in various social programmes including cataract surgeries for the visually impaired and a dialysis facility for people with renal failure. There are also patients who can’t afford healthcare and we are able to seek sponsors to assist with their medical bills,” said Bux.
At the Hibiscus Hospital Group, he runs various social programmes in Port Shepstone, one of them is a crèche being managed in a rural area.
“We also keep in close contact with the government hospital in the area, and we run a free cataract operation service once a quarter. We help the government to try and catch up with their backlog, because they have huge waiting lists for cataract surgeries,” said Bux.
Healthcare isn’t the only thing that Bux has his hand in.
Bux and his family are also behind the Pedros Flame Grilled Chicken brand, which now has more than 90 stores nationally.
“My three sons Moosa, Bilal and Altaaf handle that part of the business. We started it about three years ago, and it has really grown. We are trying to bring more affordable food alternatives to the general public,” said Bux.
In our last KZN edition of Al Qalam we ran the above story on page 5. We mentioned in the blurb that the Hibiscus Hospital Group was family run. It was pointed out to Al Qalam that this was incorrect. The Hibiscus Hospital Group is in fact run by a board of directors representing shareholders. Dr Bux is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hibiscus Hospital Group. We sincerely apologise for this error on our part. editor
