14 November 2006
The North West Department of Health would continue to extend access to
quality healthcare to the people around Matlosana area despite the fact that
floods have unfortunately caused extensive damage to Tshepong Hospital which
has caused alarm, not only to the families of patients in the hospital, but
also the entire departmental staff. The North West Department of Health is
therefore making this public announcement that indeed Tshepong Hospital is
flooded and the intensive care unit (ICU), OPD, Laboratory, pharmacy and X-ray
department sustained damages as a result of the heavy rainfall with hail that
has afflicted the area yesterday.
The hospital had a bed occupancy rate of 330 when the incident happened
yesterday and all 330 patients were transferred immediately to the nearby
hospitals. Forty were transferred to Potchefstroom Hospital, 57 (orthopaedics)
to Duff Scott Hospital, which was a mining hospital, but currently under the
department, 113 were sent to Westville surgical. The critically ill patients
(ICU) including the remaining 99 medical patients, have all been evacuated to
Klerksdorp Hospital which is just a few kilometres from Tshepong, which any way
is part of our KTPW complex.
The Department of Public Works has been roped in yesterday to determine the
cost of reconstruction and make a proper assessment in terms of structural
damages in the hospital and they will make the necessary recommendation with
regards to the future of the hospital in terms of whether the hospital should
be renovated or completely closed down or any other recommendation they deem
necessary to permanently address this disaster. We can only announce the
outcome after proper consultation is made with both the community and the
Department of Public Works; and will all await the final report in that
regard.
We want to reassure our communities and people that all the necessary
clinical guidelines were followed in terms of evacuating our patients to other
hospitals. We therefore request our communities to send ambulances, patients
and/or self-referrals to Klerksdorp Hospital casualty department because
Tshepong casualty and other departments in the hospital remain closed until
further notice. We have further instructed all the referring hospitals and
community health centres and clinics to send their patients to other provincial
hospitals like Mafikeng Provincial or Rustenburg Provincial for now.
We also want to request our communities to be calm as we have established
mechanisms of ensuring that any family member who needs the whereabouts of
their loved ones who were in Tshepong will be assisted. We will arrange help
desks and we have also established a toll-free help-line (018 406 4612) for any
enquiries in this regard.
The departmental top management, including Superintendent General and Deputy
Director-General, accompanied the MEC to Tshepong Hospital to assess the damage
physically and ensure the safety of patients. They will also assess the
intervention measures taken by the hospital management to find lasting
solutions to the immediate challenges at hand.
Issued by:
Zakes Molala
Acting Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (018) 387 5830
Fax: (018) 3875830
E-mail: lmolala@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Health, North West Provincial Government
14 November 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwhealth.gov.za)
