At the Boitumelo Regional Hospital in Kroonstad, Free State, crumbling infrastructure impedes patient care.
We made our initial hospital visit two weeks ago. On the floors of certain wards and theaters, buckets have been placed to collect water leaking from shattered ceilings.
In 2010, the expansion and renovation of the hospital facility began. July 2014 saw the completion of additional modifications. Under the condition of anonymity, hospital staff told GroundUp that conditions are deteriorating, with leaking ceilings and shattered windows hidden with cardboard.
Additionally, the dam is full while the taps in Komani are dry.
Last week, nurses and other hospital employees went on strike due to the facility’s terrible state. Additionally, they sought payment for overtime. The majority of employees returned to work on Monday evening, pending additional negotiations with management on February 17.
Boitumelo is the only regional hospital in the Fezile Dabi District, serving patients from around 19 nearby municipalities.
The hospital has six operating rooms, however at least eighty patients’ surgeries are rescheduled between October and December of 2022.
Since 2018 I have been traveling to the hospital for surgery… They keep postponing,” stated Langelihle Makhoba.
Mamiki Mnguni, a patient from Oranjeville who lives approximately 100 kilometers from the hospital, said, “I was scheduled for a gallstone removal on January 19, 2023, but I was informed that the operating room is not operational. “I was instructed to return in April,”
The CEO of the hospital, Sibongile Mthimkhulu, sent us to the Free State Department of Health.
Mondli Mvambi, the department’s spokesman, responded to our questions with a screenshot of a document received by Mthimkhulu that highlights the work achieved on infrastructure repairs.
The memo said, among other things, that ceiling panels had been replaced and two theaters had been repainted.
When we returned to the hospital on the 6th of February, however, ceiling panels were still shattered and some operating rooms were not yet fully operational.
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