BULAWAYO’S Ekusileni Hospital could soon shut down due to serious staff and food shortages, resulting in the institution admitting less than 25 patients at a time.
Ekusileni Hospital chief executive Asbolom Dube confirmed
the sad state of affairs to Southern
Eye.
A recent report by the Bulawayo provincial medical director
Maphios Siamuchembu also confirmed Ekusileni’s failure to attract staff and
source enough food for patients.
“I can confirm that the situation is not looking good for
us. We, indeed, are facing food and staff shortages and this has made it
difficult for us to admit more than 25 patients. We are still waiting for
funding for the hospital to keep on moving; otherwise we will be forced to
close down because there is no food. We cannot keep patients without adequate
resources to sustain them,” Dube said.
“The intensive care unit needs about 30 staff members for
it to run smoothly, and we need more doctors and nurses for the rest of the
hospital wards.”
The hospital currently has 13 patients, but the situation
remains difficult to manage due to food shortages.
“The hospital is open for donations so that we can admit
more patients,” Dube added.
Early this year, Dube told Southern Eye that the hospital
was not facing any challenges. However, the situation at the health institution
suddenly took a turn for the worst following a depletion of health personnel
and food shortages.
The hospital was the brainchild of the late Vice-President
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo who wanted it to be a specialist cancer hospital.
The hospital, turned into a COVID-19 centre in 2020 by government, no longer admits COVID-19 patients because of the dire situation it finds itself in.
Officials said if the hospital failed to get funding any
time soon, it might be forced to shut down. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment