Excitement was written all over the faces of the residents of Sheperds Hope when the Honourable MEC for health Mr Pumulo Masualle officially opened Sheperds Hope Clinic in Matatiele on the 10 July 2009.
Sheperds Hope Clinic is situated on the very cold mountains range with an inaccessible rough ragged road that winds above Kenerha River and is 35 km from Matatiele.
This community previously accessed health services by renting premises from the Roman Catholic Mission which is now adjacent to the newly built state of the art facility. The opening of this clinic by the department will change the people’s lives because communities will be able to access free health services continuously and nearer.
Clinic committee member Mr Mtsha believes the facility will save many lives as the community struggles to get to Taylor Bequest hospital which is the nearest hospital, due to transport problems. “The challenges we have gone through in the past years are now history to this community and now we are only focusing on utilising this facility. The community is all excited by this progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Friday 12 July, the MEC again handed over a clinic to the residents of Ngqwarha in Mqanduli. Both clinics are of the same standard with three consulting rooms, reception areas and dispensary and nurses homes. Each clinic will service about 10 000 people.
The MEC pleaded with the communities to use the services rendered in these clinics and promised that the department will make sure that staffing and medication are available.
Services rendered:
* ante natal care
* post natal care and cervical cancer screening
* reproductive health
* treatment of Tuberculosis
* Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT)
* Preventing Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT)
* integrated management of childhood illness
* expanded immunisation programme
* growth monitoring
* maintenance and treatment of chronic diseases
* health education
.
Issued by: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
13 July 2009
Source: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecdoh.gov.za/)
