Torwood Hospital, Bell Medical Centre to revive Redcliff health sector

THE much-awaited re-opening of Torwood Clinic and Bell Medical Centre in Redcliff is set to breathe a new lease of life to the health sector in the dormitory town.

The two medical facilities stopped functioning in March 2012 and have been lying idle since then forcing residents to travel to Kwekwe city to seek services.

Rutendo Clinic is only providing primary health care and those that need other services have to travel to Kwekwe.

Torwood Clinic and Bell Medical Centre hav e facilities to offer dental, radiography, theatre and pharmaceuticals.

Redcliff Municipality using mostly devolution funds, acquired the two medical facilities from Ambassador Arikana Chihombori at a cost of US$650 000.

The local authority could however not raise adequate resources to re-open the two medical facilities hence it asked Government to assist.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Minister of Health and Child Care recently visited the medical facilities which he said were now a number one priority.

“We are looking at how we can operationalise Torwood Clinic and Bell Medical Centre which have been lying idle for a while. We are doing this with Redcliff Municipality and the Roman Catholic Church,” he said.

VP Chiwenga said Government will start by supplying medical staff and reopening the outpatients’ department as well as the pharmacy so that patients can start getting medical assistance and drugs.

“We will do this in stages starting with the outpatients’ department and the pharmacy so that people will not have to travel to Kwekwe for such services,” he said.

Redcliff Town Clerk Mr Gilson Chakauya said they are grateful to Government for its intervention.

“The visit by VP Chiwenga follows a visit by his deputy Dr John Mangwiro earlier and we highlighted that we no longer have the capacity to operationalise the institutions despite them being vital in the health sector.

“We are, therefore, excited following the commitment by Government which has pledged to speed up the operationalisation of the two medical facilities,” he said.

Mr Chakauya said the medical facilities will go a long way in revamping the town’s health sector.

“On our own, we have no capacity to operationalise these two health institutions hence we asked Government to assist,” he said.

Mr Chakauya said council had no resources to equip and engage staff for the two medical facilities.

Redcliff has a population of about 41 000 people and 1 263 households .The reopening of the two hospitals will therefore ease the burden on Kwekwe District Hospital.