Some sections of Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo went for three days without water last week owing to burst pipes.
Authorities said the water pipes were too old. From Tuesday to Thursday, many parts of the hospital were dry, posing a health hazard at the institution.
The hospital’s clinical director, who doubles as acting chief executive officer, Dr Wedu Ndebele, confirmed some sections of the hospital had no running water.
“Yes, there is no running in some sections, but not the entire hospital,” said Ndebele. “There is no water at some theatres, but we are still able to operate as we have many theatres. I will have to check which other places besides the few theatres that do not have running water.”
Sources at the hospital told NewsDay the unavailability of running water also affected doctors and student nurses staying at the institution.
“Our pipes are so old and as a result they develop regular leaks that have to be repaired,” he said. Supplies had, however, been restored at the weekend.
“The water has finally come, we had problems these past three days as we could not use toilets and had to go to other departments to access water for domestic use,” said the source.
Apart from the water problem, the hospital is reportedly stuck with a $1,5 million debt, forcing some suppliers to stop delivering drug they would have tendered to supply. As a result the hospital was reportedly operating with just 48% of the required essential drugs.
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Ndebele recently told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Welfare that hospital authorities had received only $1 million from Treasury out of the $4, 4 million allocated in the National Budget.
The health institution had made an initial request of about $12 million.
