daniel chigunwe
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu-Bulawayo Bureau
The renovation of two blocks of staff accommodation at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo has been completed, with remaining work set to be completed in June.
The milestone rehabilitation has modernised the structures, which were gutted by fire in May last year, leaving 39 healthcare workers with limited accommodation, but without clothes and property.
The other two blocks were gutted by fire in 2018 and 2019 and the Government resolved to have the nurses’ home renovated as it was in a dilapidated state.
The fifth project is the construction of an additional block of flats, a plan which was mulled 20 years ago with many false starts.
Our Bulawayo Bureau visited the projects yesterday and observed that rehabilitation of the DQ and the White House building had been completed.
The DQ building, which awaits commissioning, stands out with shiny face brick walls and a spacious bar and entertainment area for doctors. All rooms are tiled and have new cabinets, toilets and kitchen sets.
Part of the renovations included installation of solar lights, water tanks and the parking space for doctors.
Attached to the DQ building is the doctors’ residence block, which burnt down last year, and so far, 65 percent of the work has been done to modernise and renovate the residence.
The renovation work was done by workers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe National Army, Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and Mpilo staff members.
In an interview, Mpilo acting chief executive officer Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said about $322 million of the $350 million Government injected to refurbish the buildings has been used.
He said Mpilo staff were grateful for the Government’s intervention, which is likely to improve service delivery and improve staff retention.
“We have made quite tremendous progress with our project to bring back to life our staff residences that were gutted by fire from 2018. We are extremely grateful to the Government which funded this massive project. We have about $27 million left of the $350 allocated for the project,” said Prof Ngwenya.
“The White House is 100 percent complete and awaits commissioning just like the DQ building which also houses the bar. The biggest structure gutted by fire last year is about 65 percent complete and then a block of flats is coming up well. We have managed to cover the ground floor and we need two more floors on top before we talk of completion.”
He said Mpilo had projected the renovations to take 90 days to complete, but they had underestimated the damage.
Architects were roped in to modernise the structure of the residences, which affected timelines, although Mpilo has managed to meet the deadline for the two completed buildings.
“As predicted late last year, we had completed the two buildings by the end of March and now we continue working hard to complete the remaining three. Depending on the funding, which we expect the Government to avail, we will finish everything by the end of June at this pace.”
Prof Ngwenya was happy because the new building was a dream come true as it took more than 20 years for construction to start.
“The Government then came with a holistic approach to sort out all our problems dating back to 2018 and more, including the block of flats, an idea which was approved 20 years ago. This is a visionary way to make sure we have acceptable and conformable accommodation for our doctors. Investing in their accommodation will help in retention so that we don’t have our workers leaving for greener pastures. We are proud of how far our team is working; their dedication is outstanding,” he said.
“This investment will also improve our service delivery as Mpilo. It is our wish to continue saving lives in every possible way. Now we await more funding so that we complete the outstanding work.”
Online Reporter