Olivia Pharo, 49, from Saxon Sea grew tired of her community being under-serviced, so she handed in her resignation, cashed in her pension and opened a clinic.
Atlantis, Western Cape – Olivia Pharo has been working as a nurse for over 29 years. She worked at the Wesfleur State Hospital for almost her entire career but walked away from it all to make a difference in her community.
On the 1st of March, Olivia opened the Sister Pharo’s Clinic in the Atlantis City Centre building in Wesfleur Circle. She cashed in her retirement fund to make the clinic a reality.
“I handed in my resignation last year in September because I just had enough of the bad service residents in our community were receiving,”
“I was in a managerial position and having to deal with all the complaints and the staff crisis and I just got so irritated.” – Sister Olivia Pharo
The mother of two has always dreamed of opening a health care facility that caters to her community. The clinic employs three qualified nurses, two administrative clerks, one assistant clerk and a cleaner. It operates from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm, and Saturdays from 9 am until 2 pm.
Most of the services at the clinic are free to the community members. Any services that require lab work, however, are charged to the person receiving them. They even offer house-calls to patients that are unable to get to the clinic for treatment.
“Many people do not have transport to get to the hospital, so they call us and we go out to their homes and assess the patients and treat them as best as we can,”
Since opening, the clinic has helped 250 people. There are many more people in the community that will benefit from Sister Pharo’s Clinic.
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