2012 AJ Orenstein Memorial Lecture

The 2012 AJ Orenstein Memorial Lecture is entitled Towards the clinician-led management team: a strategy for fixing hospitals? and will be delivered by Professor Karl von Holdt, Director of the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP) at Wits. Von Holdt and a team put together by NALEDI have for many years looked at how to make ‘Bara’ work and he has uncovered extraordinary information.

Von Holdt has an in-depth understanding of the public health landscape. He has done some ground-breaking research in the area and has used his insights to make significant contributions to the National Planning Commission of South Africa to which he was appointed by the President. Von Holdt will be talking about his and others’ experiences in transforming the functioning of Professor Martin Smith’s Surgical Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital over a period of about 10 years. The Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has talked openly about re-engineering the health system.

This lecture is designed to be not only erudite but topical. At a time that the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences is struggling to deal with a rapidly imploding health system, his insights will be very valuable and ought not to be missed.