Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
BEITBRIDGE District Hospital is set for a major upgrade to enable it to meet modern service delivery and respond to growing demand in line with the transformation of the town into a big city.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Sleiman Kwidini, conducted a tour of the hospital yesterday and commended the town’s growth in terms of population and infrastructure, which demands modern health services.
The 140-bed hospital is a referral centre for the 250 000 people from more than 17 clinics. It is also a referral of at least 15 000 people who pass the town in transit daily and several others from neighbouring districts including Gwanda and Mwenezi.
Despite the town’s growth the health facility is still operating with a skeleton staff since the 1990s.
This has resulted in human and material resources gaps amid increased patients’ burden.
“We appreciate the workload and operation challenges at this hospital hence as the Government we are going to urgently upgrade and expand the infrastructure and manpower to this hospital,” said Deputy Minister Kwidini.
“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 required.
“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 of the hospital will also see more material and human resources being deployed to Beitbridge soon on a phased basis.
Government is already working with other partners and has completed building a bigger pharmacy at the hospital, which will soon be opened.
“As the Government, we have noted during our routine working visit that the hospital is strained in terms of resources due to the increased demand for services and its location in a transit town located between major highways leading to Harare and Bulawayo,” said Kwidini.
“So, we want this hospital to be bigger than it is so that it can carry the burden of people transiting through this town and the local residents.
“We want to boost its capacity to be able to contain any form of disaster as is the case with what they have been doing during major road accidents like the one that occurred last Thursday when we lost 25 lives and more than 40 others were injured.”
The Deputy Minister Kwidini said hospital should be ready to handle any amount of pressure including emergencies.
“On equipment, it’s important that we put more diagnostic machines including the x-ray and laboratories, which will be delivered later this month with the support of the Global Fund,” he said.
In the long run the Government intends to expand all its health facilities at its border posts so that they can handle locals and those in transit.
During a recent visit to the hospital by the Matabeleland South provincial civil protection committee, Beitbridge District medical officer Dr Lenos Samhere said they were handling an average of 350 deliveries monthly, which is more than what the provincial and other district hospitals are handling.
“We are in the range of major referral centres like the United Bulawayo Hospitals,” said Dr Samhere.
With regards to last Thursday’s accident, Dr Samhere said most patients had been treated and discharged.
“We are left with two people in the female ward and one will be discharged later today while the other will be transferred for specialised treatment,” said Dr Samhere.
“Following the road traffic accident, we admitted 23 patients in the female ward where one died, 14 were transferred to various hospitals for specialised treatment and six were discharged and are remaining with two,” he said.
“In the male ward, we admitted 21 patients, six were later transferred, two died and 13 were discharged. Five other patients died at the Out Patients’ Department (OPD).”
Beitbridge Senator, Tambudzani Mohadi, has appealed for the Government to intervene and save the situation at the hospital, which is faced with a litany of challenges including shortages of staff accommodation, power and water supply among other things.
City mayor, Councillor Peter Mafuta said there was an urgent need for the Ministry of Health and Child Care to avail more ambulances and materials resources at the hospital.
