Alignd announces Dr Lungi Nyathi as new CEO

Press release: Alignd has appointed Dr Lungi Nyathi as CEO from December this year

Dr Lungi Nyathi joins Alignd from Medscheme/Afrocentric Health where she served as Executive Director for over five years. She brings to her new role a wealth of experience, having worked in the healthcare sector in executive, management, and clinical roles over the past 11 years.

Welcoming Nyathi, Alignd’s outgoing interim CEO, Ursula Torr says she looks forward to working with the incoming CEO at a time of enormous opportunity in palliative care and at Alignd.

“Having Lungi join us is such good news for Alignd, for palliative care, and for South Africans being able to access quality palliative care early on in their disease trajectory, without having to worry about whether their medical scheme will cover the costs.

I am more than delighted to be taking up my appointment with Alignd as CEO in December, and to be joining a company with a clear sense of purpose.

“Our mission at Alignd is to foster, promote and enable the delivery of affordable, quality palliative care in the private sector. Alignd offers a palliative care model that gives patients access to expert care and support to those who need it as soon as they need it, it rewards palliative care practitioners fairly, and allows medical schemes to cover their members in full in a cost-effective manner.

“Lungi joins Alignd as our company celebrates its two-year anniversary and, the fact that by partnering with some of South Africa’s most forward-thinking medical schemes, we have enabled almost one million lives to be covered for palliative care on diagnosis of serious cancer,” says Torr.

Nyathi, who has long been passionate about patient-centric solutions in the healthcare environment, says her appointment is an opportunity to see these longed-for solutions come to life in the South African environment.

“I am more than delighted to be taking up my appointment with Alignd as CEO in December, and to be joining a company with a clear sense of purpose.

“The most expensive and complicated treatment doesn’t always translate as the best care. Involving a palliative care team as early as possible in a person’s journey can help to support a patient and their family during a difficult time, working alongside the healthcare professionals that are guiding their care. It can begin a process of communication that both informs care and plans for the future,” Nyathi said.

“I look forward to being part of Alignd’s exciting growth journey as more healthcare funders partner with Alignd, giving South Africans access to palliative care as soon as they need it, and giving palliative care providers a reimbursement solution that allows them to offer their expertise more widely.”