Nursing home turns away patients

Nomusa Mdukuzi Chronicle Reporter
THEMBELIHLE Nursing Home in Bulawayo’s Mpopoma suburb, which caters for People Living with HIV and Aids and Tuberculosis patients, has ordered patients to vacate its premises saying it was facing operational constraints.
The nursing home, which has been struggling to pay its workers for about a year, reportedly ordered its patients to vacate and seek medical attention from other health institutions.

Relatives of the patients admitted at the nursing home raised concerns that some of the patients were in critical condition and sending them home was not the best option.

One of the relatives who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was ordered to take a patient to another hospital as the nursing home was closing down.

“I was shocked after being ordered to take my wife who is seriously ill from the nursing home and get her admitted to another hospital.
“My wife is getting help from this place and I am sure that if she gets treatment for one more week here her condition will improve. It is unfortunate that the home is closing its doors without notice,” said the relative.

One of the patients who also got a notice said she was shocked about the issue since she had paid all the medical fees.
“The reason we are admitted here is that we need medication. It is shocking that the health institution is abandoning us when we have paid all the necessary fees required by the nursing home.

“If the issue is with the authorities who are now failing to pay salaries they should sort that out                                                                                                       and bring order to the nursing home,” said the patient.

The relatives said they approached the local councillor Mr Charles Moyo who engaged the institution’s authorities to stop it closing down.
Contacted for comment, Clr Moyo said the institution was very useful and as such it could not be closed.

“They cannot close that nursing home because it is helping us and above all it is very useful to Bulawayo as a whole.
“We understand that the home is going through a tough time but whatever amount of money they get, workers should be paid,” said Clr Moyo.

One of the home’s directors, Ms Gamuchirai Mutswiro declined to comment.
“All I can say is that we only had some issues to iron out and I cannot comment any further about that,” said Ms Mutswiro.