
During her unannounced visit, Amai Mnangagwa was appraised
of the challenges facing the hospital during informal interactions with
unsuspecting patients and members of staff, most of whom did not recognise her.
She expressed optimism that the 2018 National Budget to be announced today will
address some of the budgetary constraints affecting good service delivery.
“You are doing great work caring for our patients despite
the shortage of resources. I am sure you are aware of the prevailing economic
situation in the country. I hope that some of the critical problems facing the
institution will be addressed in the forthcoming National Budget when resources
are allocated,” she said.
“The purpose of my visit is to have an appreciation of the
hospital’s operations. I am happy. I was impressed by the cordial patient-staff
relationship and cleanliness in the hospital,” she added.
The central hospital, also known as Gomo, is the busiest
hospital in Zimbabwe, offering services to over 1 200 in-patients and 900
out-patients/casualties daily. The hospital has 22 wards in the general
hospital, a large maternity hospital, a psychiatric unit, as well as a tropical
diseases unit.
Apart from being the country’s First Lady, Amai Mnangagwa
is also the National Assembly Member for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency.
Throughout her tour of the hospital’s units, she consistently preached the
message of hope and hard work. She also urged mothers to take good care of
their children as they were the future leaders.
The First Lady visited the out-patients, paediatric,
maternity and nursery units. She concluded her tour at the transport section,
where she was briefed about the serious perennial transport shortage for both
patients and staff.
“We only have two old ambulances which are not
well-equipped to cater for our inter-hospital transfers. The situation is bad.
The other ambulances are down. We also used to transport our staff home, but
now we can only take them to the city because of our depleted fleet,” said the
hospital’s chief executive, Ms Peggy Zvavamwe. Herald
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