BY PRESTIGE MUNTANGA
RENOVATIONS at Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital are now 75% complete to enable the facility to handle critical COVID-19 patients amid fears of a fourth wave, Southern Eye has heard.
The council-run facility was declared a COVID-19 treatment and isolation hospital last year.
At the time, the institution was ill-equipped to handle COVID-19 patients.
Bulawayo chief nursing officer Sithokozile Hove said the near completion of upgrades at Thorngrove would boost the city’s fight against COVID-19 in the face of a fourth wave.
“About 75% of the hospital has been renovated and we can proudly say that we are ready for COVID-19 fourth wave,” she said.
“From where we were in the beginning, we have made progress in the renovations of this hospital. The isolation was renovated first. The children’s TB ward was also renovated.
“We still need more renovations and refurbishment inside our wards with the change of nowadays. Toilets are outside the ward and sometimes patients struggle going there. Those still need to be done. With the help of the council, we are hoping that by the end of next year this time will be completely refurbished.”
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Hove made the remarks during a handover ceremony of the facility by the Zion Church, which did most of the renovations. The Zion Church painted the old ward in the hospital, commonly known as 1944 because of its outdated structure.
Zion Church representative Sunday Zondo said: “We as the Zion churches based in the United Kingdom decided to come back and do something for our home town. We will continue helping our hospital as we believe that giveth is more blessed than taketh.
“As we were born and bred here in Bulawayo, we want to bring change not only in Thorngrove hospital, but in Bulawayo as a whole.”
Thorngrove was built in 1941 to cater for TB patients in Bulawayo, Midlands, Matabeleland North and South provinces.
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