Life Healthcare Group (Pty) Ltd

Life Healthcare is a private hospital group whose education arm trains nurses through seven learning centres in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. The nursing education service, referred to as Life Healthcare nursing education and as the Life Healthcare nursing college, was established by the group in 1998 and describes itself as one of the top three private nursing educators in South Africa. More than 1 000 students study at the centres across basic and post-basic courses in nursing and health sciences.

Programmes are accredited by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE), and the institution is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private higher education institution (registered since 2008) and affiliated to Nelson Mandela University. It is ISO 9001:2015 certified. Teaching combines theoretical study with clinical practice in the group's hospitals.

The SANC-accredited undergraduate programmes are a one-year Higher Certificate in Nursing leading to registration as an auxiliary nurse and a three-year Diploma in Nursing leading to registration as a general nurse. Learning centres are in Cape Town, East London, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Durban, Pretoria, Roodepoort (West Rand) and Springs (East Rand). Not every centre offers every programme.

Outside teaching, the group runs a Human Research Ethics Committee, accredited under the National Health Research Ethics Council since 2016, that approves research conducted within Life Healthcare. Employees can also access bursaries as part of their benefits.

The group is South Africa's private hospital operator with head office in Johannesburg, and its out-of-hospital services, Life Nkanyisa (public-sector healthcare services under contract to departments of health), Life Health Solutions (employee wellness for companies) and the nursing education service, operate independently while sharing the group's values.