TINASHE NEKATI
Staff Writer
CIMAS Health Group has renamed its Van Praagh Medical Centre after Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese, Zimbabwe’s first Black female medical doctor.
The facility was officially renamed the Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese Medical Centre at a ceremony held on Friday, honouring a medical practitioner whose achievements helped break racial and gender barriers in the profession.
Speaking at the ceremony, Cimas Health Group chief executive officer Vulindlela Ndlovu said the renaming was a tribute to a trailblazer whose achievements had opened doors for generations of women in medicine.
“Dr Nyamwanza-Makonese, you walked a road that nobody had walked before you, and then you held the door open for others to follow,” Ndlovu said.
“Every young woman with a stethoscope in Zimbabwe today owes something to the trail that you blazed.”
Nyamwanza-Makonese made history on November 24 1970, when she graduated from the University of Rhodesia Medical School, becoming the country’s first Black female doctor. She was the only woman in a class of 25 students.
Her career included service in government and with the City of Harare before she established her private medical practice, where she continued attending to patients.
Cimas board chairperson David Bain said the organisation was proud to associate the medical centre with a figure whose work had made a lasting contribution to Zimbabwe’s healthcare system.
“We are honoured to associate her legacy with a facility dedicated to health, dignity and service. We undertake to be responsible custodians of her name and values,” Bain said.
The renaming comes as Cimas marks its 80th anniversary, with the organisation seeking to recognise individuals whose contributions have helped shape the country’s healthcare sector.
Chief medical officer at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, Hopewell Mungani, who represented Health and Child Care minister Douglas Mombeshora, said Nyamwanza-Makonese’s work in maternal and child health, advocacy for women’s education and health equity, and mentorship of younger medical professionals had helped create opportunities for others.
He said her legacy remained relevant to Zimbabwe’s efforts to improve access to healthcare, affordability, and the quality of services available to the public.
“The greatest tribute to her legacy will not be the name above this entrance, but the quality of care delivered within these halls,” Mungani said.
He also called for greater collaboration between the government, private healthcare providers, and medical aid societies, saying disagreements between institutions should not compromise patient care.
“The patient must never become the casualty of disputes between institutions that should be working together,” he said.
Mungani said the country needed a healthcare system that served all citizens and ensured patients received quality treatment regardless of their circumstances.
Nyamwanza-Makonese’s husband, Eben Makonese, expressed gratitude for the recognition, saying the family was deeply honoured that her contribution to medicine had been acknowledged through the naming of the facility.
He said the honour was a source of pride for the family and a lasting recognition of her years of service to patients and the medical profession.
The plaque unveiled at the ceremony recognises her pioneering achievements and enduring contribution to medicine and healthcare in Zimbabwe.
The renaming places Nyamwanza-Makonese’s name at the centre of an institution dedicated to healthcare, linking her historic achievement in medical education to the continued provision of medical services in Zimbabwe.
Founded in 1945, Cimas Health Group is one of Zimbabwe’s oldest and largest medical aid societies and healthcare providers.
