Chronicle EditorMidlands Bureau
THE Gweru City Council (GCC) run Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) which was identified as the district Covid-19 referral centre has received a major boost with companies having moved in with various donations to equip the hospital.
The IDH popularly known as Isolation Centre by Gweru residents and had become derelict due to years of neglect is undergoing a major facelift spearheaded by the public sector.
The city’s director for of Health Services, Mr Sam Sekenhamo said leading the pack in the refurbishment of IDH is a local property development company, River Valley Properties (RVP), Mimosa Mining Company and Zimbabwe Bulk Drilling company, among others.
He said RVP is refurbishing wards and providing new linen for all the 26 beds.
Mr Sekenhamo said the company was also providing food and personal protective equipment to all the 50 health personnel seconded to the hospital by the district Covid-19 taskforce.
“We are grateful that we are not alone as Gweru City Council in the fight against the spread of this scourge at local level.
“We have companies like River Valley Properties which has literally adopted the hospital, providing new bedding, sheets, blankets for all the beds, they are also providing food to staff.
“We also have other companies like Mimosa Mining Company, Zambezi Bulk Drilling Company which drilled a borehole among others who are pledging to assist this institution,” said Mr Sekenhamo.
He said Zambezi Bulk Drilling Company drilled a borehole at the hospital to augment water supplies.
“There has been erratic water supplies at the IDH, so there is a borehole that has been drilled meant to improve the water supplies.
“There is a lot going on at the IDH in terms of a complete overhaul to turn the hospital into a state-of-the-art isolation centre even after the fight against Covid-19,” he said.
Mr Sekenhamo said there were some temporary tents which were also pitched at the hospital grounds to cater for suspected cases of Covid-19 before the patient is allocated a bed in the ward.
“I saw the tents attracted interest on social media when they were pitched some two weeks ago.
“The idea is to stay ready; these are just temporary tents where suspects are checked before being allocated a bed in the hospital.
“We are also improving them in case we have excess patients because we have seen hospitals hit by the pandemic failing to cope with the number of patients so we are preparing extra beds in the tents,” he said
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