By Shumirai Chimombe
“A nurse entrepreneur is basically a person who took her passion for nursing and made it a business.”
Cleopatra Van Ster took her passion and 21 years of experience in nursing to embark on her entrepreneurship journey seven years ago. She started her business Nurseit Primary and Occupational Healthcare Services with one clinic and has expanded to operating three clinics. The business currently employs two professional staff, three receptionists, two carers and one driver. Her focus is on providing affordable healthcare services to underserved communities, aiming to bridge the gap in healthcare coverage and offer accessible healthcare without the need for medical insurance.
In her pitch at the Standard Bank EmpowHER conference in Cape Town last year, she said: “We all know that healthcare cannot be carried by the public healthcare system alone. And we all know that even the private healthcare system has a shortage of people. Nobody can service everyone. So that’s where we come in. Our service aims to ease the burden of disease by making healthcare more accessible and affordable to all.”
Cleopatra’s passion and her pitch impressed the judges so much that she was recognised with the Top Women EmpowHER Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2024, sponsored by Standard Bank at the awards ceremony in December.
Nurseit Primary and Occupational Healthcare Services offer all basic primary and occupational healthcare services, including making diagnoses, prescribing, and dispensing medication. Some of their wide-range of services include basic medications, chronic care, Pap smears; injections B12, Bco; immunisations, family planning; wound care; minor suturing; HIV counselling and testing; antenatal clinic and wellness screening.
“I’m the person who will do your blood pressure. I am the person who will listen to your lungs. I’m the person who will diagnose you with pneumonia and give you medication.”
So what does a clinical nurse practitioner do? A primary healthcare nursing specialist has the qualification to make a diagnosis and can dispense and prescribe medication until Schedule 4, making her service cost effective and accessible to the public at a reasonable cost, explained Cleopatra.
Nurse entrepreneurs bring sustainable healthcare to South Africa. They provide convenient and affordable access to private healthcare services, often servicing areas that will be overlooked by other healthcare practitioners. “Nurse entrepreneurs provide long-term employment and financial futures, stimulating economic growth in their wider community.”
The company’s target market is the low to middle-income with or without medical aid. This population has a stable income and wants to access affordable private healthcare near their community.
“We are based in the community because our service is of quality, it is relevant, and it is much needed.”
READ: Standard Bank Top Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Brenda Khumalo
The woman behind the business
Cleopatra started her career as an undergraduate student at the Western Cape College of Nursing in 2003 and completed a Diploma in Nursing, Midwifery, Psychiatry, and Community. She holds a master’s degree in nursing, Postgraduate diplomas in Primary Health Care and Nursing Education, and a BTech in Occupational Health Care.
She worked in medical emergency, primary healthcare, and ICU settings between 2007 and 2013. She has been involved in the public sector for more than eight years specifically focusing on the comprehensive management of HIV/AIDS patients, and antiretroviral and Tuberculosis treatment. Since 2010 has been involved in clinical mentoring and training of peers as part of the government’s strategy to equip nurses for Nurse-initiated and Managed Antiretroviral therapy (NIMART).
During her undergraduate training, she was known to be an excellent nurse and received an award for clinical practical excellence in 2007. She also received a prize for best oral research presentation at the University of Stellenbosch during their 50th Nursing research day in 2013. She was also a lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in the Nursing Department where she did a lecture and clinical training for undergraduate and postgraduate students until the end of February 2020.
Cleopatra comes from a background of informal trading. Growing up as the eldest of five children, with parents working as a machinist and a construction worker, she learned the value of hard work and determination. She is married to Dr. Ngoie and together they have five children.
How does she see her business five years from now?
“We would like to expand our brand and increase our revenue, to expand our brand nationally and not only be based in Cape Town. We are planning to make this expansion possible through partnerships and/or franchises. Our immediate goal is to take our current services to more locations all over Cape Town and to grow into a more comprehensive healthcare service that includes other medical and clinical services.”
Her expansion plan is also in response to one of the biggest challenges she has been facing in running her business. Although the business has successfully grown to three practices, their service is running at full capacity at each site, making her a full-time employee as well as the owner/manager. “I would like to move to a place of working in and on my business. This will be possible by employing more staff and adding a clinic that will run at a lower capacity which will be my working site until it reaches full capacity.”
She adds that they would like to incorporate dentistry, eye care and pharmaceutical services, all aimed at giving access to quality cost-effective healthcare services. To address more needs of the community the business would also like to add counselling services. They have a virtual doctor but intend to add virtual nursing healthcare services.
“Our business is to grow.”
“Nurses running their practices are not a common practice in South Africa. To do what you love every day, impacting so many lives positively while earning a living and creating jobs – I consider it successful.”
