The healthcare sector encompasses a wide variety of operations and services, including preventive medicine, emergency care, residential care, outpatient care, and ambulatory services. For the sake of public health, this network of services must continue to run as seamlessly as possible. To this end, healthcare employees must possess sufficient leadership skills.
With leadership skills, healthcare professionals can navigate situations where they have to make quick decisions and coordinate with others effectively. However, leadership goes beyond quick thinking. Effective leadership in the healthcare industry requires a wide variety of important soft and hard skills. It goes beyond just offering medicinal care but also understanding the patient’s pain and discomfort and providing a plethora of distinct services that contribute to enhancing overall health, improving wellness, and enabling peace of mind.
Eurika Mogane-Jones is an exemplary healthcare leader who exhibits excellence with traits that play a vital role in the healthcare niche. She always wanted to help ease any pain or discomfort that someone might be going through, whether it be physical or mental/spiritual.
Eurika is the CEO, and Co-founder of Tharika M Health Wellness Center, an organization that offers unique services like Colon Hydrotherapy, Detox Recipes, and G5 Body Therapy Treatment, each of which helps an individual to seek personal wellness. With these services, she aims for her clients to have a healthy life with overall good quality Health and Wellness.
In an interview with Insights Care, Eurika shares her inspirational journey of passion, commitment, and persistence that led her to the recognition and achievement that she has attained today.
Below are the highlights of the interview.
Please brief us about yourself and tell us your source of inspiration for venturing into the healthcare niche.
I am a born-again Christian who believes in the Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, and a Multi-Award-Winning Health and Wellness Practitioner. The CEO and Co-founder of Tharika M Health Wellness Centre, a place where we focus mainly on detoxing therapies aimed at equipping the spirit, soul, and body.
My passion for venturing into the healthcare industry started at an early age. I always wanted to help ease any pain or discomfort that someone might be going through, whether it be physical or mental/spiritual. I had extended family members and churchmates that I had witnessed going through so much – my goal was to help them ease that discomfort.
I didn’t want to be a GP, though, because of the working hours – and that was when I found my passion in Biomedical Sciences, Health & Wellness Practices and Therapies such as Colon Cleansing/Colonics and G5 Body Treatments. These therapies focus mostly on natural products and the best type of way of understanding how one’s body functions and what day-to-day lifestyles affect them.
Colon Cleansing is my biggest focus as it is aimed at boosting the quality of one’s colon. Our large intestines determine much of our health. Colonics are a safe and effective method of removing toxins, trapped gases, and accumulated waste from the colon.
Please brief our audience about Tharika M Health.
Tharika M Health is mostly for those who feel that they want to start a journey of healing, self-discovery, and an understanding of how their body functions according to their molecular build-up.
Research has proven that there is a strong link between Mental health care and Physical health care—this shift has been my drive to ensure that patients and their families know that—physical treatments alone are not always enough. As a Healthcare worker, it is imperative that I can also speak to the individual and help them understand the power of their state of being and wellness. This has brought about a major shift in the healing journey for many, as most causes of conflict stem from deep-rooted traumas.
Through our Pastoral Counselling, Health and Wellness Programs and Body Therapies; we have been able to break down most walls that many have built over a period. The joy in our unique offerings is that most individuals are now looking for natural ways of dealing with physical and mental/spiritual blockages. In this Centre, we have a team of highly skilled ministers of the Gospel, therapists, and healthcare workers who all come together with the hope of offering support and care for all.
Kindly elaborate upon your journey as the guiding light of your organization, and how you have positioned it as a reliable name in the healthcare sector.
The Tharika M Health Wellness Centre’s driving statement is YOUR HEALTH IS OUR PRIORITY! This has assisted us in driving this huge ship of change to bring impact and change to various communities.
We have partnered with various organizations to also go around different villages/ rural areas to help combat any stigmas and myths that may still be controlling the health system of those areas. Over 23 communities with 3000 families are benefiting from the free translated information that we supply.
In the year 2020, I was fortunate enough to be one of the four South Africans who would be awarded for my contributions in compiling and translating a free online COVID-19 course. This course was available at local internet hubs donated by other partners, which helped equip the youth of those areas to venture out and share timely information about the pandemic. I was given a Golden Volunteer Award through Alison Online Learning Institute, a Golden Key International Honorary Society Alumni Members award, as well as the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans Award: Editor’s Choice. In the year 2022, I was also awarded the 40 Under 40 Africa Awards representing the community for the work done.
I have also been fortunate enough to share my story of shifting from being an Office Cleaner to currently running this successful Health and Wellness Centre.
As the representation of women in the healthcare niche has increased, is the sector focusing on the needs of women more than ever before?
Yes definitely! Right now, we have women in various healthcare spaces who are outperforming their counterparts. It is enlightening to know that we are also being tasked with the duty of not just nurturing humans but also aiding in their healing journey in any industry that we choose to be in.
More female medical/healthcare professionals are taking the stand and assisting in combating certain myths and stigmas that many might have created about trusting a woman in healthcare. It is very humbling for me when patients come in for their sessions, and they say just how thankful they are that I am a female – both male and female patient.
Having a broad experience in the healthcare field, what is your opinion on the integration of technological advancements in the healthcare sector, especially when it comes to catering to the dynamic needs of the healthcare sector?
Medical Science has surely improved the way healthcare is being delivered to the public. Technology has found a way to save us time and other resources. Today we can accommodate more patients because of how effective and efficient the services have become.
As an African woman, I am also very thankful to raise the flag in healthcare. The equipment and tools I am using right now for our therapies are assisting tremendously as they are helping us to attend to the basic needs of our patients, which were once a far-fetched idea for us in this part of the world.
It is sincerely so refreshing to offer flushing support to a patient who is supposed to head in for surgery or colonoscopy—we help clear their colon in time without the weight of laxatives.
Being an innovative leader, what advice would you like to give budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts aspiring to venture into the healthcare niche?
Learn to be patient with your organization. Many people think that just because your practice doors are open, then you will immediately have walk-ins. It takes time and consistency before people can fully trust someone. They may have met you at the local healthcare facility, yet they still need additional persuasion to trust you in your own space.
Learn to also always reinvest in your skills and passion. Attend seminars, and webinars, and sign up for more courses and CPD points to help keep you up to date with the latest healthcare principles and trends. Do not ever think you know it all; there is always room for improvement and change.
Above it all, the patient is the priority. Whether they come in frustrated and angry at you or not, understand that they see you as their final hope. Even if you are a massage therapist, understand that the moment someone lays on the bed they have completely surrendered themselves to you – so please do what is best for them at all times!
How to envision scaling your organization’s services and operations in 2023 and beyond?
My biggest goal for the next five years is to help spread awareness about the impact of all spheres of life in your journey of healing. You cannot be physically healthy, yet your spirit or soul is overwhelmed and breaking. We need to find a balance.
We will be enhancing our footprint by spending more time-sharing information through our various local media houses. We will host Q&A sessions where the community can find out from other healthcare practitioners’ ways to understand their journey and what role they play as patients.
The key aim is to bridge the communication gap that patients and healthcare practitioners have. The patient, at times, assumes that the healthcare workers know what they need, and the healthcare workers also assume that the patient knows exactly what they feel.
Services at Tharika M Health and Wellness Centre
- a) Body Therapies/Treatments:
- Colon Hydrotherapy: Colonics are a safe and effective way to help the body detox. We use warm filtered water to help flush out waste, toxins and much more.
- G5 Body Treatment: G5 Body Treatment uses a massaging machine that goes much deeper than the hands. This machine is used to help break down fat pockets and help encourage muscle toning and accelerates physical tension.
- Lymph Drainage: We use a certified Lymphatic Drainage Therapist to help decrease the discomfort of impacted lymph in one’s system.
- b) Early Detection Services:
- GeneWay Testing: Through this testing, we can help individuals understand the type of sicknesses and diseases that they may be prone to as per their genetics.
- Faecal Occult Blood Testing: Through this early screening test, we can help individuals discover any microscopic presence of blood in their stool. This blood may be an indication of either colon polyps or early detection of colorectal cancer.
- c) Spiritual Mentorship/Counselling: Being able to discover and fully embrace one’s identity is very key. With this service, we can walk many into their divine purpose as well as equip them to make use of their skills and gifts to make the most of their everyday lives.
Eurika’s Awards & Recognitions
2009: Valencia Combined School Principals Award
2011: Golden Key International Honours Society Member Undergraduate
2016: South African Writers College Most Memorable Short Story Award
2017: Cancer Association of South Africa Head Office Silver Award
2020: Alison Online Learning Institution – Golden Volunteer Award
2020: Golden Key International Honorary Society Alumni Award
2021: Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans Winner – Editor’s Choice in COVID-19 Frontliners
2021: Nominee – SANTAM Women of the Future Award
2022: Nominee – Fabulous Women Awards: Healthcare Support
2022: SABC Ligwalagwala FM Healthcare Speaker
2022: SPAR Lowveld Women’s Challenge Ambassador
2022: 40 Under 40 Africa Awards Honorary Entrepreneurship Winner
