Bestmed Announces New Board of Trustees at its 51st Annual General Meeting
Bestmed, one of the top five open medical schemes in South Africa, hosted its 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the CSIR in Pretoria today. The AGM was preceded by a thought leading Conference which illustrated the important role played by the private health care industry in a rapidly changing healthcare arena.
World renowned futurist, Dr Graeme Codrington set the tone for the Conference as the first guest speaker. He highlighted how critical it was for corporates to invest more in understanding employee health and wellness and the impact of this on employee engagement.
Founder of the Interbrand Sampson Group and internationally renowned brand guru, Jeremy Sampson placed emphasis on brand mortality and the manner in which brands need to navigate the treacherous future of hi-tech and hi-touch environments.
The AGM also served as a platform for the formal endorsement of the new Board of Trustees (BoT). Commenting on the process, Chris Luyt, Bestmed’s Executive Manager: Marketing, Communications & Distribution said “the Scheme recently held an election and members were invited to nominate candidates. More than three nominations were received and members participated in an election process. The three candidates that were elected are as follows:
• Fred Camphor as the current Chairman at Bestmed, who consults in strategic business, change management and human resources as focus areas. Camphor previously served as a Board member and Vice-Chairman of Bestmed and was employed as Vice-President of the CSIR.
• Prof Piet Delport - the current Vice-Chairman of the Bestmed Board of Trustees. He is a professor in Mercantile Law at UP, Chairman of the Board of AVBOB and member of the Companies Tribunal
• Reverend Hannes Windell – as an Employee Member Representative from NG Gemeente Sonhoogte. He is the current Director of MES NPC and Chairperson of MES”.
Subsequent to the election by the members, the board members appointed the following trustees:
- Mr CM Mowatt (Colin) – Financial Director at Sappi Southern Africa
- Mr PM Kennedy ( Peter) – Managing Director at MediSwitch – a division of Bytes Healthcare Solutions
- Mr LB Dlamini ( Leo) – Senior General Manager at Eskom’s Office of the Chairman
- Dr LH Petersen (Leonard) – Senior Clinician at Enablemed
- Ms S Stevens (Suzanne) – Executive Director: Marketing and co-founder of BrightRock (Pty) Ltd
- Mr S du Plessis (Steyn) – Chief Executive Officer at ASG Sport Solutions
At the AGM, Bestmed highlighted all financial statements, indicating the progress made thus far, and the growth the Scheme has achieved for the 2014 financial year. Stakeholders had a full overview of all financial statements for the year. Details of assets, funds and liabilities and risk contribution assets were explained to stakeholders. “Our reserves have remained above 25% in the previous financial year and we continue to provide our members with the benefits that match their profiles at affordable rates. It is thus not surprising that the Scheme was honoured with the Healthcare Product Supplier of the year Award at the prestigious 17th annual Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) Awards ceremony held on 4 June 2015, at the Sandton Convention Centre,” commented Luyt.
The healthcare industry today
The Private Healthcare sector continues to wrestle against a plethora of challenges. These include an issue of Prescribed Minimum Benefits, unaffordability of new biological drugs, non-communicable diseases, lack of closer collaborations and many other challenges. “We cannot deny that closer collaboration in this sector is imperative. We are all facing the same challenges, and we all have one goal even though we have different strategies – but our members are our key priority, and meeting their needs is what we need to strive towards. It is for this reason that we will be creating a platform to collaborate with other industry players to discuss trends in the industry, challenges and how to address these challenges. It is up to us to engage with different stakeholders within the healthcare sector to collectively find solutions together,” said Luyt.
Wellness and health
Among the initiatives that Bestmed has been involved in, is the drive towards preventative healthcare. The scheme places a great deal of emphasis on its wellness philosophy, based on five basic pillars, encouraging members to Be Active, Be Safe, Be Nutri-Wise, Be Happy and Be Fin-Fit. “This is the foundation of a healthy and fulfilled life,” commented Luyt.
Furthermore, Luyt added that Bestmed has created a successful balance between wellness and health. “Historically the focus was on curative healthcare, but that was costly and unsustainable, and it is for this reason that we focus on longevity of lives, by paying more attention on educating members on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We focus on preventative care that is being paid for from the Scheme’s risk benefit,” he said.
In conclusion, Bestmed’s CEO, Dries La Grange reflected on Bestmed’s journey and expressed his gratitude to the members who have been loyal to the scheme through the recent challenges we have experienced. “The fact that we have achieved the four measures of business success: profitability, customer satisfaction, growth and sustainability can be largely attributed to the unwavering support of our members, brokers and other key stakeholders that we work with.”
