Events Medicine – Our Personal Best Across Every Event

The Mediclinic Corporate Events team comprises several experienced and highly skilled medical professionals with an active interest in sports medicine. In recent months, the dedicated team has been fully occupied with its role as the official medical partner of several leading world-class sporting events. 

Their schedule has been nothing short of extraordinary. 

After successfully supporting the phase 1 bid of the Cape Town Marathon to become a ‘leading marathon of the world and one of the Majors’ in October 2024, the crew steamed on to support the iconic and well-loved Wines2Whales mountain bike race, as well as the most recent edition of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens.

The specialised event medicine team were running at full pace to finish the year on a high by providing a world-class offering to the renowned Nedbank golf challenge (hosted at Sun City) as well as the Sunshine Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Cup (hosted at Leopard’s Creek) where they were instrumental in orchestrating the first ever on-site skin cancer screening initiative for golf in South Africa.

Dr Darren Green, Corporate Events Manager and Event Chief Medical Officer highlights, “In addition, the division was called upon to assist in drafting the first Mental Health Emergency Action Plan for professional golf in South Africa.”

“After a brief respite, the team hit the ground running early in 2025, kicking off with the rapidly expanding 99er Cycle Tour hosted in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. Following this, the team were on hand showcasing the very best clinical practices in emergency pitch side care as the designated medical service provider for the World Rugby Challenger Series - a riveting tournament hosting 24 international sevens rugby teams held in Cape Town over 3 weeks,” he explains further.

Dr Darren Green forms part of the World Rugby Training faculty in South Africa, tasked with qualifying doctors and physios in advanced immediate care in rugby for pitch-side emergency medicine. He is also part of the advanced concussion network and advisory panels for emergency eventing medicine.

The team then simultaneously prepped, planned and delivered high-level expertise at the 47th edition of the world’s largest single-day timed road cycle race, the Cape Town Cycle Tour, with approximately 28 000 participants.

This unique event boasts a rich heritage of Mediclinic’s advocacy for teamwork and patient care. We offer 15 medical points (supported by multiple Mediclinic hospitals in the Cape and Winelands region) spanning the 109km route and a dedicated race hospital with trained ICU staff and capabilities at the finish. The route pre-hospital EMS component is spearheaded by ER24 and flanked by an additional 9 ambulance service providers who assist with patient transfers on race day. 

The Mediclinic team’s expertise was further highlighted during the Sunshine Tour where they provided their unique expertise at both the Investec SA Open and Johannesburg Open. The African Amateur Golf championship was also added to the list of events on their gruelling calendar.

The team then entered the action with one of the world’s most gruelling multistage MTB cycling races - the Absa Cape Epic. An 8-day multistage event that includes a field of both professional and amateur riders in some of the toughest mountain biking routes. Their extensive service includes morning sessions, on-route support, and post-stage care at the race hospital, where riders can get support for a broad range of conditions, including saddle sores, fall injuries, wound care, dehydration, and even pre-race strapping. Teams travel with riders and relocate the fully equipped race hospital each time the rider village is moved across the event.

“The pace over the last year has been electric and intense, and the journey has been extremely rewarding as the outcomes of this team demonstrate true resilience, grit and cognitive agility,” says Dr Darren Green. 

“We know that our specialised event medicine team exhibits a client-centred approach to clinical support in the most unusual and demanding situations. We are proud that we can showcase this team’s unique expertise at world-class sport events. This is truly expertise you can trust,” concludes Corné Heyns, Head of Strategy at Mediclinic Southern Africa.

The corporate events team is led by Dr Darren Green as Events Chief Medical Officer, Tristan Manning (Risk and Disaster Manager), Sister Veronica Austin (Clinical Logistics Co-ordinator), Brandon Drinkwater (Senior Logistics) and Faeez Rhoda (Logistics Assistant).