We are proud to share that My City Bloemfontein has featured OTSC founder Juané Raats and the launch of the Occupational Therapy Support Centre (OTSC).

The article highlights Juané’s journey, the challenges occupational therapists face in private practice and how OTSC provides practical resources, training and business support to help practitioners focus on what matters most – their patients.

Read the full article on My City Bloemfontein.

New South African Support Centre takes aim at the hidden pressures of private healthcare in private Practice.In November 2026 South African Occupational Therapist and private Practice Owner Juanè Raats launched the Occupational Therapy Support Centre (OTSC) after almost 10 years of development, creating a central support platform for Occupational Therapists who are increasingly expected to manage the demands of running a business while still delivering quality Patient-care. The launch highlights a challenge that is often overlooked in private healthcare: Clinicians are trained to treat Patients, but many enter private Practice with little preparation for the administrative, operational and compliance responsibilities that come with owning and managing a healthcare business. These include Staff management, Record keeping, Policies, Patient information, business systems and regulatory requirements.

Raats says this creates pressure that can affect both the Practitioner and the Practice. “You qualify as an Occupational Therapist because you want to work with Patients, but once you open a Practice, you quickly realise that clinical work is only one part of your day. You are also expected to manage people, systems, administration, compliance and the business itself.” Raats qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2003 and opened her first Practice in Bloemfontein in 2004 before later expanding to Bethlehem and Kimberley.  Over more than two decades in private Practice, she began developing her own systems, documents and processes to manage the non-clinical side of running a Practice. What began as a practical solution for her own business, gradually developed into a larger idea. Raats says she saw that many Occupational Therapists were dealing with the same challenges independently, often spending hours developing documents, Policies and systems that already existed elsewhere in the profession.

“That was the turning point for me,” she says. “I realised that highly trained Practitioners were spending valuable time solving the same administrative problems repeatedly. That time could have been spent on Patients, Staff development or building stronger Practices.” OTSC brings together support in areas including business management, human asset management, training, POPIA and PAIA compliance, and professional networking. The platform is also developing Occupational Therapy-specific resources such as administrative documents, report templates, treatment protocols, evaluation resources and Home Programs.

In the future Raats is also planning a Practitioner-inter-referral network which will also form part of the initiative, with the aim of helping Occupational Therapists to connect, collaborate and refer more effectively. Raats says the wider issue is not simply about making administration easier. “If the business side of a Practice is poorly managed, the pressure eventually affects the Practitioner, the Staff and the Patient experience. Stronger systems give Clinicians more space to focus on the work they were trained to do.”

After almost a decade of development; OTSC is now live at www.otsc.co.za.

Die bekendstelling fokus op ’n uitdaging wat dikwels eers duidelik word wanneer ’n Gesondheidspraktisyn ’n privaat Praktyk begin: professionele opleiding berei jou voor om Pasiënte te behandel, maar nie noodwendig om ’n Praktyk te bestuur nie. Praktisyns moet terselfdertyd verantwoordelikheid neem vir onder meer pasiëntinligting, personeelbestuur, rekordhouding, beleide, besigheidstelsels en regulatoriese vereistes, alles terwyl hulle steeds hul kliniese werk moet verrig.

Volgens Raats kan hierdie verantwoordelikhede druk op sowel die Terapeut as die Praktyk plaas. “Jy kwalifiseer as ’n Arbeidsterapeut omdat jy met Pasiënte wil werk, maar sodra jy ’n Praktyk open, besef jy vinnig dat kliniese werk net een deel van jou dag is. Daar word ook van jou verwag om mense, stelsels, administrasie, voldoening en die besigheid self te bestuur.”

Raats het in 2003 as Arbeidsterapeut gekwalifiseer en haar eerste Praktyk in 2004 in Bloemfontein geopen. Sy het later na Bethlehem en daarna na Kimberley uitgebrei. Oor meer as twee dekades in Privaat-praktyk het sy haar eie stelsels, dokumente en prosesse begin ontwikkel om die nie-kliniese kant van Praktykbestuur beter te hanteer.

Wat aanvanklik as ’n praktiese oplossing vir haar eie Praktyk begin het, het mettertyd in ’n groter konsep ontwikkel. Raats het besef dat talle Arbeidsterapeute dieselfde uitdagings op hul eie probeer oplos en dikwels ure spandeer aan die ontwikkeling van dokumente, beleide en stelsels waarvoor daar reeds elders in die beroep oplossings bestaan.

“Dit was vir my die keerpunt,” sê sy. “Ek het besef dat hoogs opgeleide Terapeute waardevolle tyd bestee om dieselfde administratiewe probleme oor en oor op te los. Daardie tyd kan eerder aan Pasiënte, Personeelontwikkeling of die bou van sterker Praktyke bestee word.”

OTSC bied ondersteuning op verskeie terreine wat met die bestuur en ontwikkeling van Privaat-praktyk verband hou, insluitend Praktykbestuur, menslike hulpbronne, opleiding, POPIA- en PAIA voldoening en professionele skakeling. Die platform ontwikkel ook praktiese, beroep-spesifieke hulpbronne, waaronder Tuisprogramme, administratiewe dokumente, verslagtemplate, behandelingsprotokolle en evalueringsmateriaal.

Raats beplan ook om in die toekoms ’n Praktisyns- en interverwysingsnetwerk as deel van die inisiatief te vestig, met die doel om Arbeidsterapeute makliker met mekaar te verbind, samewerking te bevorder en verwysings tussen Praktyke te vergemaklik.

Volgens Raats gaan dit oor veel meer as om administrasie makliker te maak. “Wanneer die besigheidskant van ’n Praktyk nie doeltreffend bestuur word nie, plaas dit uiteindelik druk op die Praktisyn, die Personeel en die gehalte van die Pasiënt se ervaring. Sterker stelsels en beter ondersteuning gee Gesondheidspraktisyns meer ruimte om te fokus op dit waarvoor hulle opgelei is. Die versorging en behandeling van hul Pasiënte.”

Ná byna ’n dekade se ontwikkeling is OTSC nou beskikbaar by www.otsc.co.za.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BprEtjaP7Ao