Londile Moyo
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu
A 40KW mini solar plant has been installed at Manama Mission Hospital as part of several projects aimed at transforming the health facility into a state-of-the-art institution.
The solar system, which will be commissioned soon, was donated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It will provide power to various departments including the theatre, maternity, female and male wards. It will also supply electricity to the waiting mothers’ shelter, mortuary, kitchen, dental room, outpatients department and laundry room.
The health facility, which serves a largely rural population, has been struggling to deliver effective services due to frequent power cuts that have hindered the provision of some critical healthcare services.
This has forced many patients to travel to Gwanda Provincial Hospital to access certain services, a situation that has been costly for many families.
Manama Mission Hospital medical superintendent Dr Solomon Madondo said the hospital has been facing challenges in delivering effective services due to unreliable power supply. He said the hospital has been relying on small generators which can hardly meet the demand, especially considering that the institution sometimes goes for days without electricity.
He said the improved power supply marks a pivotal moment in the hospital’s journey towards enhanced healthcare service delivery.
“With this new solar plant it means that our theatre which was equipped recently can now function at full capacity.
There will be no need for us to transfer our c-section patients to Gwanda Provincial Hospital as we will now be having power back up. We will now be able to store our medicines in the pharmacy.
“We will now be able to reopen our mortuary since there will be power 24/7 and this will reduce burden to the community who have been parting with large sums of money for private mortuary services. The system only covers lighting in departments such as OPD yet equipment like patient monitors needs powering too. We wish for an upgrade of the system in future in order to offer comprehensive healthcare to our community,” he said.
@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter