Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
IN two weeks, Ekusileni Medical Centre will mark a year since it opened its doors for members of the public as a Covid-19 centre and by the end of this month, it will be renamed after the late late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.
The medical institution is a brain child of the late Father Zimbabwe who died of cancer at the age of 82 on July 1 in 1999.
His dream to see ordinary people access specialist healthcare gave birth to Ekusileni, which officially opened last year after a 17-year closure.
In an interview, Ekusileni chief executive officer Dr Absa Dube said the hospital will be renamed Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Ekusileni Hospital by the end of this month.
He said he was happy that the medical centre finally opened for members of the public to access healthcare services.
“It’s such a milestone to note this hospital opened last year, after so many years of planning in honour of Dr Nkomo who had this dream to ensure that ordinary citizens have access to quality health care. We are waiting for our new banner hopefully to be erected before July ends with the new name as it has been approved that we name Ekusileni after the late Father Zimbabwe. We have not stopped serving our people and the Government continues to inject resources to ensure that everyone who comes through gets professional health service,” said Dr Dube.
Although Ekusileni opened to cater for Covid-19 patients, plans are underway to transform it into a specialist training and research school under the National University of Science and Technology (Nust).
This will keep Dr Nkomo’s dream alive in the long run and save lives.
Statistics already indicate that Zimbabwe has approximately a ratio of 1,6 physicians and 7,2 nurses for every 10 000 people, making specialist healthcare services out of reach for many.
Thus, Nust envisages Ekusileni becoming the crux of medical tourism to generate foreign currency for the country and provide essential services for locals at affordable costs. Medical tourism results when foreigners visit a country for medical services.
India and South Africa are among the countries benefiting from traffic from Zimbabwe as they have better facilities to treat most ailments at affordable costs.
The Ekusileni upgrade project is part of the Government’s efforts to provide world-class training for doctors locally while improving the quality of health care delivery.
The project buttresses Nust’s vision of becoming a highly specialised cardiac, renal and respiratory care (surgical and medical) service provider.
Currently these services are not being offered in the country and Zimbabweans lose millions of dollars travelling abroad for such specialised treatment.
Bulawayo Minister of Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Judith Ncube said Dr Nkomo’s dream of easy and accessible specialist services will never die.
She said she was grateful to the Second Republic which ensured that Ekusileni opens after 17 years of false starts.
“We can never let Dr Nkomo down. He had a dream to see lives being saved right here in Bulawayo and we are slowly getting there. His vision was clear and so far through the leadership of President Mnangagwa, we managed to open it as a Covid-19 centre,” said Cde Ncube.
“It may be slow but one of these days we will be able to have specialists for our people at Ekusileni and that way lives will be saved. We will continue celebrating his vision and dreams for Zimbabweans and I encourage health care workers to be diligent in saving lives as a way of honouring our father and unifier.”
Nust Vice Chancellor Professor Mqhele Dlodlo said the academic institution was also ready to take the Ekusileni to greater heights when phase two of its development finally takes place post Covid-19.
He said every Zimbabwean will benefit as they will train more specialists needed to tackle the disease burden currently faced by a majority of health institutions.
“We are happy that we will be partnering with Ekusileni and soon we will train specialists who will help Zimbabweans in need of such services. This is a great initiative and as a state university we will gladly work with interested partners to fulfil the dream.” – @thamamoe.
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