Paul Ciapparelli

Dr Ciapparelli holds an MBChB and an MBA degree, both from UCT, in addition to diplomas and certificates in managerial fields including leadership, complexity management, lean operations, strategy development, project management and others. His MBA was awarded Cum Laude, and he was awarded a post-MBA semester scholarship at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, North Carolina. 

He practised as a clinician for a number of years post-medical-internship,  including experience in general practice in Canada and in Paediatrics, Radiology and Oncology. Later, he changed career path to healthcare management. In this capacity, he worked at a senior management level at both Groote Schuur and Tygerberg Academic Hospitals. His longest stint as a senior healthcare manager, and up to retirement, was at Tygerberg Hospital as Chief Operational Officer and Group Director: Clinical Service, as well as CEO of Tygerberg during the COVID period. As such, he was responsible for strategic and operational management of all clinical services at Tygerberg, the main tertiary teaching hospital for Stellenbosch University. He was a member of Joint Staff (University and Hospital) and an Honorary Lecturer in Healthcare Management / Public Health, as well as serving on the most senior bilateral committee between Faculty and Hospital.

He has extensive experience in operationally and ethically complex milieus; he has deep experience in major organisation-wide projects including implementation of electronic patient records, hospital-wide PACS system (digitisation of radiological images/activities), robotic surgery, and PET and MRI scanning. In addition, his experience covers interaction and collaboration with aligned NGOs such as The Smile Foundation, The Flamingo Breast Surgery project, a self-driven Hospital Art project, as well as public-private partnerships with the private healthcare sector.