Medscheme, NHP move to Kleine Kuppe

AUGETTO GRAIG - Namibia Health Plan (NHP) and its long-term administrative partner Medscheme, giants of the Namibian health insurance landscape, have finally found a new home at the Demushuwa Suites on the corner of Grove and Ombika Streets, next to the Lady Pohamba private hospital in Windhoek’s Kleine Kuppe neighbourhood.

On Wednesday the move was celebrated at a gala function hosted in the forecourt of their new headquarters.

Ronnie Skolnic, the senior fund, marketing and managed care manager for NHP, said the inauguration of the new offices, which take up two floors of the complex, marked the business’s commitment to its long-term presence in Namibia.

This is the first time that the business has bought equity in its own premises, having always rented in the past.

Growing

He elaborated on the business’s long history, which started with the founding of Medscheme back in 1979. Since its humble beginnings in Garten Street in the heart of the capital, the company has grown from strength to strength.

Back then the company employed only eleven people. In the years that followed Medscheme provided administrative and related services to more and more Namibian health insurance companies including the then Namibia National Health Fund, Nasmed, Padmed and later also the Rössing corporation’s own medical aid fund.

Skolnic recalls how the passing of the current law on medical aid funds in 1995 led to the consolidation of various funds for which Medscheme rendered services, and the formation of NHP.

“Ours is a long-standing partnership and the relationship has only grown and strengthened over the years,” he said.

Since 1996 the partnership has been housed in the Hidas Centre in Klein Windhoek.

Almost 22 years later the organisation had outgrown those premises.

Having grown exponentially, especially since 2004 when NHP membership increased by 157% to the current 30 000-plus main members, more space was needed.

Construction

Already in 2016 the agreements for the move to the new premises were signed. The construction of the building was to follow and by November 2017 things had progressed to the point where staff, furniture, equipment and systems could begin the great migration.

According to Wimpie Bronner, the operations manager, particular care was taken to make use of Namibian companies and skills to facilitate the move.

Local expert builders NMC were the contractors, Howard and Chamberlain the architects, and Bidvest Namibia group of companies the suppliers for furniture and fittings, he said.

Bronner agreed that the new home demonstrated NHP and Medscheme’s commitment to Namibia.

“We don’t just move around from one place to another,” he said and added that the business was a proud employment creator for the country.

“We provide work for Namibians. Everyone working here is a Namibian and when we do bring skills in from South Africa, we make sure the skills remain when we send the South African back,” he said.

Medscheme and NHP have already proven their knowledge and abilities in providing excellent service to the Namibian market, but the business can also draw on expertise from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mauritius thanks to it being part of the larger Afrocentric Health Group.

This has helped the company achieve recognition, bringing home the top honours for the PMR Diamond Awards eight years running, and looking to make it nine come March.

For Skolnic the focus has to remain on the local market and dealing with the many changes it has recently undergone. The practices and preferences of clients change constantly and another challenge comes with the new finance bill expected to be made law sometime this year, he said.