The Team

Vergelegen Dietetic Consultants Somerset West

We have offered a high standard of dietetic care for over 20 years in the Helderberg and Winelands regions.

Our Consultants

Marlene Ellmer

Marlene has been in private practice for 10 years and sees a variety of patients at the practice in Arun Place and virtually. Marlene is the owner of Vergelegen Dietitians and she supports the dietitians working in the hospital over weekends and public holidays.

Marlene graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2002. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Nutrition in 2006. She spent 8 years in the United Kingdom mainly specialising in gut disorders and paediatrics. She worked for 5 years at the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London where she dealt with gastroenterology, gut surgery, neonatology, cardiology and critically ill children and infants. She returned to South African in 2014 and became the owner of Vergelegen Dietitians. She recently embarked on the journey of Nutrigenomics and Nutrigenetics and educated herself on impact of genetics on nutrition, health and disease.

Marlene specialises in women’s health, paediatrics, gut disorders, allergies and nutrigenetics (genetic testing).

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Megan Donald

Megan work’s alongside Leanie in Vergelegen Mediclinic by being responsible for the surgical, medical and renal patients on ward level. She also sees practice patients in the rooms.

Megan joined our team in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic under difficult circumstances and did an excellent job to support our team.

Megan graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 2018. She then moved on to complete Community Service at Queen Nandi Regional Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. She was working in the areas of paediatrics, oncology and diabetes.

Megan specialises in diabetes, surgical patients, kidney disease and has a keen interest in sport’s nutrition.

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Marguerite Loftus

Marguerite joined the Vergelegen Dietitians Team in 2021. Marguerite is the clinical dietitian for Busamed Paardevlei Private Hospital and also sees patients at the practice.

Marguerite is a passionate dietitian who believes in taking a holistic, patient directed approach. This is enforced with the tertiary qualifications she achieved, namely BSc Human Life Science with Physiology (Cum Laude) (US); BSocScience (Honours) in Psychology (UCT) and BSc Dietetics (Cum Laude) (US).

After graduation, Marguerite completed her community service year at Tygerberg Hospital, working predominantly in oncology and paediatrics. As a registered dietitian, Marguerite has worked as an associated lecturer at the Division of Human Nutrition, Stellenbosch University, where she facilitated undergraduate clinical training as well as lectured several therapeutic nutrition undergraduate topics.

Marguerite specialises in geriatric nutrition, cardiac disease, home tube feeding, and oncology. She also completed a course in Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics, and will be assisting Marlene with genetic test interpretation.

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Cindy Cloete

Cindy Cloete joined the Vergelegen Dietitian’s team in October 2023, after working as a clinical dietitian in Tygerberg Hospital for 11 years.

She worked in various clinical areas, including Oncology, Internal Medicine, Infectious diseases, Neurology and Psychiatry. Other special interests include Eating Disorders, Geriatric Nutrition and Nutrition in Pregnancy.

She assisted in the management of the Tube feed Room and Milk Kitchen units to provide specialized feeds to the patients in Tygerberg Hospital. She also did regular practical training at ward level for dietetic undergraduate students and did ad hoc lectures at the University of Stellenbosch.

Cindy graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 2008 and completed her community service year in the Drakenstein District – Paarl and Wellington. She saw a wide range of patients in the community setting and focused on helping patients optimize their nutritional intake, even in challenging situations. In 2015 she completed a one year training programme in the Management of Eating Disorders and Treating the Emotional Eater

Cindy currently works in Vergelegen Medi-Clinic in various wards, including Internal Medicine, Cardiology and sees Pregnant Women and Oncology patients where she provides nutrition support and counselling to patients.

Specialities include Oncology (cancer) nutrition, Eating Disorders and Emotional Eating. Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiology, Stroke, Nutrition in older persons, Lung disease, Neurological disorders

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Cassie Koutsis

Cassie works alongside Megan and Cindy at Vergelegen Mediclinic and also assists Marguerite at Busamed.

Cassie joined the practice in 2023 after moving on from owning her practice in Gauteng. Cassie graduated from the Univeristy of Pretoria in 2011. She then completed her community service at Edenvale Hospital where she worked mostly with pediatrics, diabetics and HIV. From there Cassie continued to work in the public sector until she moved over to private practice in 2016.

Cassie furthered her studies and obtained her Masters in 2016 from the University of Pretoria. In 2017 Cassie acquired her own private practice where she worked mostly with critically ill, surgical, geriatric and diabetic patients.

Cassie has a keen interest in renal (kidney) nutrition as well as gut disorders, cardiology and critical care nutrition.

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Our Administrative Team

Natalie Kretzschmar: Administrative assistant

Natalie is the perfectionist and helps to run a well-oiled machine. She has a great eye for detail and is meticulous and diligent in her work. She is responsible for generating patient reports and doctor’s correspondence with our doctors and multi-disciplinary team. She also supports the rest of the admin team with their duties.

Tracey Fransman: Account Manager

Tracy has been with the practice for many years and is well known to many of our regular clients. She is responsible for the administration of practice accounts and medical aids. She is also in charge of stock purchases and orders. She helps out in the afternoon at reception. Tracy continues to deliver an outstanding service and is the link that ties the practice together.