Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube
Work to upgrade Victoria Falls Hospital in Matabeleland North from a 40-bed hospital to a state-of- the art health facility with more than 250 beds, is expected to start soon.
Victoria Falls City, the country’s tourism capital, was conferred with city status in 2019 hence the Government’s decision to upgrade the city’s hospital to meet international standards.
Architectural works for the upgrading of the hospital are expected to be completed within three weeks after which civil works start. The expansion project involves demolition of some sections, putting signage, building of new structures such as wards and staff accommodation.
Government’s decision to upgrade Victoria Falls hospital comes at a time when steady progress has been made in the construction of Lupane Provincial Hospital which will also improve people’s access to healthcare services in the province.
Construction of the hospital had false starts since 2004 but since the coming of the Second Republic, a lot of resources are being allocated each year towards the completion of the health institution which is the first referral hospital in the province.
Across the country, Government as it implements its devolution and decentralisation policy, has availed billions of dollars to local authorities to fund the upgrading of health facilities to ensure people have access to quality health services.
Solar systems have been installed at more than 1 000 health facilities across the country to provide power back-up.
In Victoria Falls, infrastructure development and improving quality of services provided to both locals and visitors is top on the Government’s agenda hence the upgrading of the hospital.
Once upgraded, the hospital will be a referral facility for Hwange District and surrounding areas.
Hwange district has no district hospital and as such relies on Victoria Falls, St Patrick’s, Hwange Colliery, Lukosi and Kamativi hospitals.
A delegation from the Ministry of Health and Child Care led by Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro toured Victoria Falls Hospital yesterday to assess its state and said work to upgrade the health institution will start soon.
Dr Mangwiro said architectural works will be completed within three weeks after which civil works will start.
He said Government will be working in partnership with the Victoria Falls City Council on the project which will be funded by Treasury.
Dr Mangwiro said the growth of the city should be matched by growth in health infrastructure.
“Victoria Falls Hospital has 40 beds and when we came here for the first time during Covid-19 the hospital was dilapidated. It was not providing many services but now it has an oxygen concentrator of its own which can also feed clinics around the district,” he said.
Dr Mangwiro said Government intends to expand the hospital to 250 beds and the project has been talked about for some time and now is time to take action.
He said hospital executives had been assigned to start implementing the vision at local level and produce architectural plans in three weeks.
Dr Mangwiro said once completed, the new look facility will have no less than 20 specialists in different areas like anaesthetics, orthopaedics, paediatrics and others.
He said the plans are in line with “the vision of the Health Minister, Dr Costantino Chiwenga, who is also Vice President, who said the hospital must grow rapidly in tandem with the city’s growth.
“There will be construction of new buildings to accommodate more than 250 beds and other facilities. The Minister of Health and Child Care emphasised the need to move with speed and this is why we are here moving Victoria Falls to where it is supposed to be in line with the 2030 Vision,” said Dr Mangwiro.
He said the hospital will be be a referral point catering for multi-health functions.
“We are definitely moving very fast to ensure as the tourist city grows, we have the capacity to provide quality health services to, not just the growing population, but to tourists as well,” said Dr Mangwiro.
He thanked Victoria Falls stakeholders especially tourism players for contributing resources to the hospital and adopting some wards especially during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Mayor Councillor Somveli Dlamini who was part of the delegation that toured the hospital, said the city is on a rapid development trajectory as evidenced by new buildings and other infrastructure coming up.
“As a city we have an international airport which is already attracting big airlines hence the need for adequate health facilities to cater for our growing population as well as tourists,” he said. — @ncubeleon
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