Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope has been reactivated with first COVID-19 patients admitted
Today, I visited the Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope, one of our dedicated COVID-19 field hospitals, to conduct oversight over the hospital’s preparation during the third wave.
The 200-bed capacity field hospital began admitting patients last week Wednesday and has prepared further beds should there be a need. To date, it has brought 44 beds online, equipped with oxygen capacity, to respond to the increase in hospital admissions.
I had the opportunity to see our response for myself as well as engage with healthcare workers when visiting the facility today, and was welcomed by the Health Programmes Manager, Fatima Peters.
The Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope, on the grounds of Lentegeur Hospital, has a total of 200 beds for COVID-19 patients with oxygen infrastructure and was brought online during the second wave.
This was part of our strategy to create dedicated COVID-19 inter-mediate capacity at existing facilities so that there was legacy infrastructure, that could be used in subsequent waves, and into the future.
As of Sunday, 4 July, ward 95 of the Hospital of Hope has:
- Admitted 31 patients; and
- Prepared 44 beds, of which 8 are High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) beds.
Ward 90 of the hospital has a further 60 normal oxygen beds available, should we need to scale up in the coming weeks. We can also scale up with another 100 beds at wards 93 and 94.
This capacity is in addition to the Brackengate Hospital of Hope, another dedicated COVID-19 field hospital which can treat up to 336 patients. We also have dedicated COVID-19 field hospital capacity at the Sonstraal Hospital and can still bring online Ward 99.
I want to thank the brave women and men serving on our frontline, who continue to work tirelessly to care for our loved ones and save lives.
I also want to use this opportunity to urge our residents to do everything possible to not end up in one of our hospitals. The best way to do that is to stay safe and avoid situations where you are at risk of getting infected by the virus.
Please continue to wear a mask, avoid crowds and gatherings, and ensure that you follow the golden rules of good hygiene. If you feel sick, assume you might have COVID-19 and isolate immediately. Do not see other people, and especially protect those at high risk.
We have the power to flatten the curve and save lives, but we need every single person to help in the days and weeks ahead.
The press kit is available here: https://westerncape-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/cayla_murray_westerncape_gov_za/ErRfdUYsrC9HgtZPwy8FuCoBuFj3wiYirTqCfu9N-VivAA?e=jspi2K
You can view the livestream here: https://fb.watch/v/48PRr1W88/
