adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
PREPARATIONS to re-open Ekusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo are at an advanced stage, with the hospital already recruiting staff. The specialist facility was recently taken over by Phodiso Holdings Limited, a South African healthcare firm, which has targeted July for the re-opening of the hospital.
According to adverts flighted in the weekend Press, the hospital is seeking unit managers for the paediatric, day, surgical and oncology wards.
The hospital is also scouting for theatre and medical staff, registered general nurses, primary care nurses, nurse aides, pharmacists, a human resources officer and receptionists, among others.
Ekusileni Medical Centre manager, Ray Ray said applications had started coming in.
“We’ve already received numerous applications for the positions that we advertised. We’re still accepting more until May 21, the closing date. I would like to encourage more people to apply.
“The exact opening date is subject to having all the required equipment at the hospital. We’re working on it and as soon as everything is in place we will make it public,” said Ray.
Last month, the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) signed lease agreements with Phodiso Holdings for the health facility and 22 housing units to house the hospital’s members of staff.
The institution is set to run 23 departments with 157 beds and a potential to increase its capacity to 265.
It’s expected to absorb scores of nurses and doctors who graduated from Mpilo Central Hospital, the United Bulawayo Hospitals and the National University of Science and Technology’s medical school.
A brainchild of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, the specialist hospital was built in 2001 and was shut down in 2004 shortly after opening its doors to the public.
This was after it was discovered that equipment worth millions of dollars that had been acquired by the institution was obsolete.
In September last year, the hospital underwent renovations as termites had damaged infrastructure.
The upmarket 369-bed hospital facility was built with funding from NSSA.
It was a joint venture between Zimbabwe Health Care Trust (ZHCT) and Netcare, a South African group that provides private healthcare in both South Africa and the United Kingdom.
A super structure development fund was set up, which saw NSSA, ZHCT and the Mining Industry Pension Fund (MIPF) partnering as the super structure developers.
However, MIPF later pulled out of the project and ZHCT failed to contribute towards the centre construction, leaving NSSA to develop it on its own and become the sole owner of the property.
Recently, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care ordered the government to re-open the hospital by March this year, saying the facility was slowly crumbling.
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter