THE shortage of resources to refurbish United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) has delayed the opening of the COVID-19 ward, which was expected to be functional at the beginning of November.
BY PATRICIA SIBANDA
UBH clinical director Kelvin Kaseke yesterday said: “I am not in a position to comment on the official opening because lately it has been postponed due to various challenges. I think we have been changing the date for more than 10 times now because people have been calling to hear about the official date. Therefore I cannot really say anything concerning that.”
Kaseke said contractors on site had been pushing the dates forward due to lack of adequate materials.
“Contractors are still on site and they are the ones who keep on pushing the dates forward. Sometimes they tell you it’s because they are running short of certain materials and you hear them sometimes say there is a shortage of aluminium. So really it is difficult to say the exact date the ward will be ready to take in COVID-19 patients,” he said.
In October, UBH acting chief executive officer Narcacius Dzvanga warned that the refurbishment of the city’s main COVID-19 facility was running behind schedule.
Dzvanga said they had targeted to open and admit their first patient by mid-last month, but the engineers had advised them that they were unable to meet the deadline.
He expressed hope that the west wing would start taking in patients by the first of November, a date which has since passed.
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The 112-bedded facility has intensive care beds and up to 18 beds will be high dependency units. The remainder will be for patients who require oxygen and good nursing care.
