Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE refurbishment of a R10 million ward at Gweru Provincial Hospital (GPH) into a state-of-the-art 32-bed special ward for Covid-19 patients in need of ventilators is now complete.
GPH received 10 ventilators sourced by Anglo American Company, Unki Mines in Shurugwi, which have been installed to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for admitting Covid-19 patients in need of ventilators.
The new look wing will be commissioned by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi on Thursday.
To add to the high standards, there is a delivery suite in case the Covid-19 patient is pregnant and is due for delivery.
Before the facelift, GPH only had three Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.
Once the war against Covid-19 is won, the ward will still be used for emergency cases requiring special respiratory equipment.
Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Larry Mavima said Government is happy that the ventilators have been installed in record time.
He said the hospital is turning into a world class health institution because of partners such as Unki Mines.
The mine is also drilling 10 boreholes at a cost of US$50 000 in Shurugwi to improve hygiene for people in that district to mitigate against Covid-19.
“I’m glad to announce that renovations at the Covid-19 isolation wing at Gweru Provincial Hospital are complete. The ventilators sourced for R10 million by Unki Mines arrived and were installed successful to meet WHO standards,” said Minister Mavima.
He said GPH is the provincial referral centre for Covid-19 severe cases and will be used by high dependent patients in need of ventilators.
“The facility has a capacity of 15 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 18 High Dependency Unit (HDU). Vice President Kembo Mohadi is expected to commission the isolation centre on Thursday,” said Minister Mavima.
“With this illness at the worst, you need a ventilator and we appreciate this big donation which is aiding Government whose funds are stretched by this pandemic. This is indeed a commendable gesture by the company which is assisting the Government in service delivery.”
Minister Mavima said Midlands province has carried out 5 852 Covid-19 tests: 3 259 rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and 2 593 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
He said there are 349 recoveries, six deaths and one absconder.
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