Busamed Gateway Private Hospital

Busamed Gateway Private Hospital continues to strengthen its position as a leading multidisciplinary private hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, underpinned by significant investment in infrastructure, capacity, specialist services and advanced medical technology. Situated in the heart of Umhlanga, the hospital’s development over recent years has been about far more than adding beds. The focus has been on building the infrastructure, technology and specialist capability required to manage increasingly complex patients while allowing more advanced treatments to be offered closer to home.

Growing to Meet the Needs of Our Community

The hospital’s most recent development is the opening of its new adult ward, incorporating six dedicated isolation rooms. These purpose-designed rooms provide greater flexibility in caring for patients requiring isolation or protective care. This includes patients with infectious conditions as well as those who may be particularly vulnerable to infection because of compromised immune systems. The new ward follows another significant expansion earlier this year with the addition of 18 critical-care beds, substantially strengthening the hospital’s ICU capacity.

With these developments, Busamed Gateway Private Hospital has now grown to a total complement of 209 beds – a significant milestone in the hospital’s continued evolution. This additional capacity is particularly important given Gateway’s growing role in managing complex patients across disciplines including cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, vascular surgery, orthopaedics, oncology, general surgery and robotic-assisted surgery.

Busamed Gateway Private Hospital Brings the Future of Precision PCI to South Africa

As cardiovascular disease continues to be one of the leading health challenges worldwide, advances in medical technology are playing an increasingly important role in helping clinicians diagnose, plan and deliver more precise treatment. At Busamed Gateway Private Hospital, patients now have access to one of the most significant innovations in coronary imaging available today.

The hospital has become the first facility in South Africa to introduce Abbott’s Ultreon™ 3.0 platform, an advanced imaging technology powered by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This investment places Busamed Gateway Private Hospital at the forefront of precision cardiology and reinforces its commitment to providing world-class healthcare to patients across KwaZulu-Natal and beyond.

What is OCT & Why Does it Matter?

For many years, coronary angiography has been the gold standard for identifying blockages within the arteries of the heart. While highly valuable, angiography provides a two-dimensional image of a complex three-dimensional structure; Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) changes that entirely.

Using near-infrared light, OCT creates exceptionally detailed, high-resolution images from inside the coronary artery itself. Instead of viewing only the outline of a vessel, cardiologists can examine the actual structure of the artery wall, the characteristics of plaque build-up, the extent of calcium deposits, and the position and performance of coronary stents.

This enhanced visibility enables physicians to make better-informed decisions throughout a patient's procedure, including:
- Determining the true size and dimensions of the vessel.
- Identifying the composition of plaque within the artery.
- Assessing the severity of calcium build-up.
- Selecting the most appropriate stent size and placement.
- Confirming optimal stent expansion and positioning.
- Detecting complications that may not be visible on conventional angiography.

Simply put, OCT allows physicians to move beyond estimation and towards precision.

Dr Dirk Pretorius studied at the University of the Free State (UFS), where he obtained his initial medical degree (MBChB), BSc in Microbiology and Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine (MMed). He completed a Bachelor of Science Honours (BSc Hons) in Pharmacology at Potchefstroom University, and then qualified as a cardiologist at UFS in 2001 and has been in private practice since. At Busamed Gateway Private Hospital, he founded the cardiac unit and is currently Director of the hospital’s board, amongst other roles and achievements. Notably, he started the Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) and complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) at Busamed in 2015 and, more recently, introduced OCT. 

Busamed Gateway Private Hospital’s growth reflects a longer-term vision of developing the hospital into a destination for specialised and complex healthcare. Its location within the rapidly growing Umhlanga precinct, specialist multidisciplinary teams, proximity to King Shaka International Airport and growing capabilities in cardiology, oncology, robotic surgery, orthopaedics and critical care also create opportunities to serve patients from elsewhere in South Africa and internationally.

Address: 36-38 Aurora Dr, Umhlanga Rocks

Tel: 031 492 1130

Web: www.busamed.co.za/hospitals/gateway-private-hospital