Hillbrow Health Precinct

Established in 2004, the Hillbrow Health Precinct was born from a shared vision between Wits RHI, the Gauteng Department of Health, the City of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand to transform an urban landscape through healthcare, research and education. Today, it stands as one of Africa’s leading public health and clinical research hubs and is recognised by the City of Johannesburg as a designated Health Precinct and by the University as a Wits Research Foyer.

Where Innovation Meets Impact

Every day, the Hillbrow Health Precinct demonstrates the power of integrating research with real-world healthcare. Home to more than 70 active research programmes and studies, the Precinct brings together researchers, clinicians, scientists, students and communities within a collaborative environment designed to accelerate discovery and improve patient care.

Research centres, clinical services, pharmacies, laboratories, academic programmes and community engagement initiatives operate side by side, ensuring that innovation is rapidly translated into practical solutions that strengthen health systems and improve public health. Each month, an estimated 25,000 people access healthcare services across the Precinct, creating a unique setting where science directly serves communities.

Restoring the Past. Shaping the Future.

The Hillbrow Health Precinct is also one of Johannesburg’s most significant healthcare heritage sites. Buildings that once stood neglected have been carefully restored and reimagined as modern centres of excellence, preserving their architectural and historical significance while supporting cutting-edge research, healthcare and learning.

Wits RHI operates across four restored buildings within the Precinct Hugh Solomon Building, Shandukani, Ward 21 and 7 Esselen Street. Together, these facilities provide an integrated platform for multidisciplinary research, maternal and child health services, youth-focused clinical and research programmes, patient care, laboratories, pharmacies, education and professional training.

The Precinct also forms part of one of Johannesburg’s richest collections of healthcare heritage buildings. It neighbours the site of the original Johannesburg General Hospital and includes landmarks such as the former Wits Medical School and the historic South African Institute for Medical Research. For more than a century, these buildings have shaped generations of healthcare professionals and contributed to South Africa’s medical legacy. Today, they continue to inspire innovation while preserving an extraordinary chapter in the country’s history.

The precinct has an historical association with countless medical students, doctors and nurses who learned their profession at this teaching hospital. The same applies to the thousands of Johannesburg residents who received medical treatment there over a period of nearly 100 years.

A Model for Africa’s Future

The Hillbrow Health Precinct represents Wits RHI’s belief that the greatest advances in public health happen when research, healthcare, education and partnership work as one. By bringing together academic excellence, clinical expertise and community-centred innovation, the Precinct has become a model for integrated urban health systems not only in South Africa, but across the African continent.

The precinct contains one of the finest collections of historic buildings in Johannesburg. It includes buildings to the west of Hospital Street such as the South African Institute for Medical Research, designed by Herbert Baker and Frank Fleming in 1913, said to be based on Christopher Wren’s designs in Greenwich, London. Close by is the old Wits Medical School designed by A and W Reid and Delbridge in 1920.

From pioneering research and policy-shaping science to training the next generation of health professionals and delivering essential healthcare services, the Hillbrow Health Precinct continues to demonstrate how collaboration can transform cities, strengthen health systems and improve lives for generations to come.