Katutura hospital to be renovated bit by bit
Fumigation companies are being sought to give the Katutura hospital’s resident mouse plague a different eternal home.This is part of a procurement procedure launched by the procurement management unit (PMU) of the Ministry of Health to begin the eradication of rats, mice and other insects in the hospital, says the hospital's chief medical officer, Dr Mwadina Shiweda.
Referring to the hospital's dilapidated infrastructure, frequent power outages and bursting water pipes, she said it is because it was built in 1973 “and is 49 years old”.
“The infrastructure is very old and in a dilapidated state,” she said
Based on the budget allocated to the ministry, certain funds are allocated for the maintenance of the hospital under a capital project. According to Shiweda, this means that key departments and sections are being renovated and the damaged infrastructure is being repaired.
“It will cost the government an arm and a leg to renovate the entire hospital at once. That is why renovations are being carried out piecemeal,” she explained.
To date, among others, the pharmacy, unit two of the respiratory unit, the ground floor to floor six of the nurses’ block, nurses’ hall as well as the unit for Chinese acupuncture have already been successfully renovated. Now it's the emergency room's turn.
According to Shiwedha, the hospital also received requests from the public and donors to help with certain areas of the hospital – a step that has been welcomed by the ministry.
She emphasized that Katutura hospital is the largest referral hospital in the country. This means that apart from the high number of patients they already serve in the Khomas region, it also receives patients from the 13 other regions who are housed on the hospital's premises, until their treatment and procedures are completed before they can return to their respective regions.
Shiweda says the hospital has a total bed capacity of 843, but due to the high influx of patients that the hospital receives daily, the number sometimes rises to more than 1 100 that must be accommodated.
She referred to the hospital's three Covid-19 wards which were renovated and also newly built during the pandemic, of which five are currently being used for “ordinary” patients. These include the paediatric and maternity wards, the outpatient unit, a post-Covid-19 ward and another that will open later.
“Ultimately, the issue of overcrowding (at the hospital) is inevitable and we are doing everything at our disposal to deal with it,” Shiweda said.