It’s a funny thing, medical aid.

Depending on which scheme you choose, you will benefit accordingly. That’s how it works.

So when we find ourselves greeted with headlines proclaiming the best hospitals in South Africa, I feel lied to – especially when the data was collected by Discovery Health using an exit survey.

You feel?

Okay, now that that’s out of the way let’s take a look at South Africa’s top 20 hospitals as voted for by Discovery Health members.

Surveying the 136 hospitals in South Africa that fall within their network, Discovery Health asked members questions in a poll “centred on the quality of care from doctors and nurses, patients’ overall experience, and hospital conditions,” reports Fin24.

Here are the chosen ones, Western Cape hospitals in bold:

Cormed-clinic (Gauteng)
Ethekwini Hospital & Heart Centre (KwaZulu-Natal)
Gateway Private Hospital (KwaZulu-Natal)
Hillcrest Private Hospital (KwaZulu-Natal)
Life Bay View Private Hospital (Western Cape)
Life Rosepark Hospital (Free State)
Lowveld Hospital (Mpumalanga)
Mediclinic Cape Gate (Western Cape)
Mediclinic Ermelo (Mpumalanga)
Mediclinic George (Western Cape)
Mediclinic Hoogland (Free State)
Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt (Western Cape)
Mediclinic Milnerton (Western Cape)
Mediclinic Panorama (Western Cape)
Mediclinic Stellenbosch (Western Cape)
Midvaal Private Hospital (Gauteng)
Netcare Jakaranda Hospital (Gauteng)
Netcare N1 City Hospital (Western Cape)
Wilmed Park Private Hospital (North West)
Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital (Gauteng)

A lot of Mediclinics, huh? With eight hospitals among the top 20, it’s Discovery Health’s top ranking service provider.

Thankfully there are other medical aid options out there, if none of these hospitals fly with you.

[source:fin24]