Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital is reeling under a myriad of operational challenges, chief among them, the recurrent electricity blackouts, which officials say put the lives of patients at risk.
Report by Own Correspondent Addressing stakeholders during the hospital’s 10th graduation ceremony last Friday, medical superintendent Collet Mawire said: “Top of the list of problems is electricity and water. Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital is affected by load-shedding like any other parts of town. This is risky to the patient-management process and lives may be lost due to these power cuts.
“We have appealed to the relevant authorities for the hospital to be isolated from the deadly power cuts, but have received no joy as yet.”
Mawire’s admission comes against a backdrop of recent reports of patients dying while undergoing surgical procedures in the operating theatres as a result of power blackouts.
Mawire also highlighted that shortages of staff, drugs and obsolete equipment were hampering efficient service delivery at the institution.
“For example, laboratory, X-ray and autoclaving machines are frequently malfunctioning. A bigger and modern switchboard has been installed, but if combined with a reliable beeper system and a continuous availability of electricity power, our communication problems as a hospital would be a thing of the past,” said Mawire.
The power cuts have also reportedly resulted in corpses decomposing at the hospital’s mortuary.
The event saw over 130 registered general nurses graduating with diplomas from the hospital’s school of nursing.
