Vivari Wellness · For organisations and EAP providers
When counselling isn’t enough, where does the employee go?
Vivari is a medically supervised burnout recovery and executive health destination in Gauteng — built for the cases your employee assistance programme escalates but has nowhere to send.
Muldersdrift, Gauteng · 20 minutes from Lanseria International Airport · 45 minutes from Sandton
We are not an EAP. We are the tier above one.
Employee assistance programmes in South Africa do the first three tiers of care well: access, triage and short-course counselling. What they generally cannot do is take an employee who is physiologically depleted — sleep architecture broken, metabolic markers deteriorating, months of accumulated exhaustion — and return them to sustainable function.
That employee usually becomes a long absence, an incapacity process, or a resignation. Vivari exists for that point in the pathway.
Wellness days, screening drives, digital tools, manager training. Delivered in-house or by the EAP.
24-hour helpline, assessment, short-course psychological counselling. The core EAP offering.
Referral to a psychiatrist, psychologist or physician for ongoing outpatient management.
Medically supervised, multidisciplinary, residential. For employees where outpatient care has not held, where the presentation is physiological as well as psychological, or where removal from the environment is itself the intervention.
Four routes in, depending on what the employee needs.
Residential burnout programme
Multi-week, medically led recovery combining clinical assessment, psychology, nutrition, guided movement and restorative therapy, followed by a structured twelve-week continuation programme. For employees at or past the point of collapse.
Short-course intervention
A three-day medically supervised reset for employees showing early warning signs — deteriorating sleep, cognitive fatigue, rising metabolic risk — where a short intervention may prevent a long absence.
Executive health assessment
Objective baseline for senior and key-person staff: DEXA body composition, VO₂ max, metabolic bloods and clinical consultation, with an individual report and an anonymised aggregate view for the organisation.
Metabolic health programme
For employees with insulin resistance, obesity or early metabolic syndrome — the drivers behind much long-term disability and chronic-condition claims cost.
Post-operative recovery
Supervised rehabilitation and recovery accommodation after surgery, aimed at shortening the gap between discharge and return to productive work.
Cohort programmes
Closed-group executive and leadership retreats combining assessment and recovery, run on exclusive-use terms where confidentiality across a senior team matters.
Burnout leaves through payroll, not through the helpline.
The cost of an unresolved burnout case is rarely counted as a wellness cost. It appears as extended sick leave, incapacity proceedings, temporary cover, recruitment and re-training, lost institutional knowledge, and — where the employee stays — sustained underperformance across a whole team.
An EAP measures utilisation. What organisations actually want to change is what happens to the small number of severe cases that consume a disproportionate share of that cost.
What partnership gives you
- A defined escalation destination, so severe cases stop stalling at Tier 3
- Clinical screening of every referral before admission, at no cost if unsuitable
- Fitness-for-work and return-to-work reporting, with consent
- Anonymised, aggregated health data across cohorts for wellness planning
- Documented evidence of reasonable steps taken, relevant to incapacity and accommodation obligations
- A location discreet enough for senior staff to use it
How a referral works.
Referral
An EAP case manager, occupational health practitioner, HR business partner or treating clinician submits a referral. A named Vivari contact acknowledges within one business day.
Clinical screening
The employee completes a structured pre-registration screen. A Vivari clinician reviews suitability, risk and any contraindication. Unsuitable referrals are declined with a written recommendation on where the employee should go instead.
Consent and admission
Written informed consent covers both treatment and the specific scope of any reporting back to the employer or EAP. Admission is scheduled around operational requirements where possible.
Programme
Residential care under medical supervision, with a defined clinical plan across assessment, psychology, nutrition, movement and recovery therapies.
Discharge and continuation
A discharge summary to the referring clinician, a consented fitness-for-work summary to the employer or EAP, and a twelve-week structured continuation programme so gains are not lost on return.
Confidentiality and POPIA
Clinical information belongs to the employee, not the employer. Diagnosis, session content and clinical records are not disclosed. Employers and EAP providers receive only what the employee has specifically consented to — typically a fitness-for-work status, recommended accommodations and a return-to-work date. Processing of personal and special personal information is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, with a written operator agreement available for corporate and EAP arrangements.
Referral partners across the employee health chain.
- Employee assistance programme providers seeking a Tier 4 clinical destination
- Corporate HR, wellness and employee relations teams
- Occupational health practitioners and workplace clinics
- Group risk insurers and income protection administrators
- Employee benefit consultants and brokers
- Psychiatrists, psychologists and physicians in private practice
- Executive coaching and leadership development firms
Why organisations use Vivari specifically
Clinical governance under HPCSA-registered practitioners, not a spa programme with medical language attached. A five-star residential environment that senior employees will actually agree to attend. Proximity to Johannesburg and Lanseria for national and cross-border referrals. And a single accountable contact rather than a call centre.
Frequently asked.
Is Vivari an employee assistance programme?
No, and we would not recommend replacing one with us. An EAP delivers volume access and early intervention across your entire workforce. Vivari handles the small number of severe cases an EAP cannot resolve. The two are complementary, and we work alongside existing EAP contracts rather than competing with them.
Who can refer an employee?
An EAP case manager, occupational health practitioner, HR business partner, treating psychiatrist, psychologist or physician. Self-referral by the employee is also possible where the organisation has an open pathway in place.
What does the employer receive, and what stays confidential?
Clinical detail remains between the employee and the treating clinician. With written consent, the employer or EAP receives a fitness-for-work summary, recommended workplace accommodations and a return-to-work date. Nothing beyond the consented scope is disclosed.
How long does a programme take?
From three days for a short-course reset to three weeks residential for a full burnout recovery programme, followed by a twelve-week structured continuation programme delivered remotely. Duration is set clinically at screening, not sold as a package.
How is it funded?
Most commonly through an employer wellness, HR or group risk budget, or privately by the individual. Some medical scheme and group risk arrangements may contribute depending on the clinical presentation and the scheme rules. We confirm the position for your specific arrangement on enquiry.
Can you accommodate a whole team or leadership cohort?
Yes. Closed-group and exclusive-use arrangements are available, which is often the preferred structure where a leadership team needs to attend together and confidentiality across peers matters.
Where are you located and can you take referrals from outside Gauteng?
Vivari is close to Muldersdrift, Gauteng, roughly twenty minutes from Lanseria International Airport and forty-five from Sandton. Residential structure means we routinely take referrals from across South Africa and the region.
What if a referral isn’t clinically appropriate?
We decline it and tell you where the employee should go instead, in writing, at no cost. Admitting someone who needs acute psychiatric care rather than a recovery programme helps nobody.
Set up a referral pathway before you need it.
The organisations that use Vivari well are the ones that agreed the pathway in advance — referral criteria, consent wording, reporting scope and pricing — so that when a case escalates, nobody is negotiating terms in a crisis.
We will walk your EAP or HR team through the clinical model, the screening protocol and the reporting framework in a single session, and put an operator agreement in place if you decide to proceed.