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By Gilbert Munetsi
Chitungwiza Central Hospital this week said it had since put in place a raft of measures to rectify the deteriorating situation it was undergoing, thereby saving it thousands of dollars.
Over the past two years the institution has been channeling finances to service providers it engaged to improve operations and service delivery.
Speaking to Nhau on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ meeting recently convened to assess the challenges facing the hospital, board chairperson Professor Hildah Matarira said there was progress in addressing the situation that was at hand.
During the interview she was accompanied by the CCH Committee Chairman of Information Governance, Mr Joseph Chamboko.
“A lot of progress has been realised in the year 2021 to address critical areas needing urgent attention while prioritising those with a direct bearing on service delivery.
“For instance we had a non-functional mortuary as a result of a technical fault and as a result the hospital was outsourcing this service from private companies like Doves and Nyaradzo.
“However, as the board and management, we took this area as a priority and are now proud to say that a contractor has been engaged and service restored to our mortuary department,” Prof Matarira said.
CCH was upgraded from General to Central hospital status in September 2005 and so vast is its catchment area that it covers the whole of Mashonaland East Province.
But for the last two years, CCH had no mortuary facilities due to a technical fault on freezers, forcing it to rely on private companies for the storage of bodies.
Before restoration of mortuary services, CCH was forking out ZWL 2 700 per body for the first three days and an added ZWL 1 000 per day thereafter.
The laundry department was another area handicapped but considering the frequency that the service is required, the hospital now boasts of six new washing machines for linen.
For a town that is yet to have a water source of its own and relies on Harare Municipality for supplies, the Chitungwiza local authority is not able to sufficiently satisfy the hospital’s demands.
To mitigate this shortfall, Prof Matarira said her institution had gone the Public Private Partnerships way, joining hands with the likes of UNDP to drill boreholes and install water tanks.
There are a total of eight boreholes and 2X10 000 litre tanks to supplement the erratic supplies from Chitungwiza Municipality.
She added that they have also procured an ambulance to replace the broken down one, a 100kw generator and have returned to their co-business.
New wards specifically for Covid-19 patients have since been established. Nhau/Indaba
