Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
RESIDENTS of Beitbridge, including local businesspeople operating under the banner Beitbridge Progressive Forum, have started mobilising resources to help improve service delivery at the town’s district hospital.
The 140-bed facility is the primary referral centre for more than 250 000 residents served by 17 primary healthcare clinics in and around Beitbridge District. It also caters to an estimated 15 000 people who pass through the border town in transit daily, as well as patients from neighbouring districts such as Gwanda and Mwenezi.
Despite the town’s rapid growth and its strategic importance as Southern Africa’s busiest inland port of entry, the hospital is still operating under a 1990s staff establishment, putting a strain on both human and material resources.
In response to these challenges, Mr Kudakwashe Chasauka, interim chairperson of the Beitbridge Progressive Forum, said the community group engaged with hospital management and agreed to mobilise resources to address some of the urgent short-term needs, particularly during the winter season.
“We have been made aware of challenges to do with broken windows and doors in all the wards, and we feel we can fix this immediately since it doesn’t require too many resources,” said Mr Chasauka.
He said the community had already donated and installed 35 window panes of varying sizes, 48 window locks, and is in the process of completing similar repairs in other sections of the hospital. Volunteers from the community are carrying out the work under the supervision of hospital authorities.
The Forum is also fundraising for critical equipment, including heaters for maternity and children’s wards, heating urns for patient bathing, kettles for warm drinks, and nebulisers for patients with respiratory complications.
“We also intend to buy aluminium doors for the male and children’s wards where we noted there is an urgent need,” said Mr Chasauka.
He expressed gratitude to all community members who have contributed to the initiative and called for more support from well-wishers and the private sector.
The latest efforts come on the back of other notable community-driven initiatives to support the hospital. Recently, cross-border transporters under the banner Cross Borders for Economic Development donated a solar-powered borehole and a water tank to the facility.
A few years ago, another group, Friends of Beitbridge Hospital, mobilised R200 000 to help refurbish the hospital, which was used to repair ambulances and service vehicles that had been grounded due to a lack of funds.
During a recent working visit to Beitbridge, Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Sleiman Kwidini said the Government is committed to expanding and upgrading the hospital to meet the demands of the town’s growing population and infrastructure.
“We appreciate the workload and operational challenges at this hospital, and as the Government, we are going to urgently upgrade and expand the infrastructure and manpower at this hospital,” he said.
“So far, in terms of medicines, it is pleasing to note that the local pharmacy has between 55 and 60 percent of the basic medication for any medical facility. We have also facilitated that more medication and consumables are delivered to this key health institution as a matter of urgency.”
Deputy Minister Kwidini said the expansion will be carried out in phases and that the Government had already completed the construction of a larger pharmacy, which will soon be opened.
