30 June 2006
For the past few years, the George Regional Hospital has been a buzzing hive
of building activity.
On 30 June 2006, Dr Tshabalala-Msimang officially opened the revitalised and
upgraded facility. The hospital has 265 beds and provides a range of specialist
services to the Southern Cape/Karoo area.
The aim of the revitalisation project was to improve the hospital's
infrastructure, technology, and services to bring them in line with
international standards. Services such as dialysis, mammography, oncology and
chemotherapy, physiotherapy, x-rays, ultrasound and an antiretroviral (ARV)
clinic are some of the services rendered by skilled health professionals. The
hospital has a well-established outreach and support programme with regard to
district hospitals in the region, and also provides support to the primary
healthcare system in George.
Dr Tshabalala-Msimang said the Hospital Revitalisation Project (HRP) at
George Hospital is her department's biggest project so far. "The National
Revitalisation Programme's budget for the 2006/07 financial year is R2
billion," she said. She congratulated the national Department of Health and the
provincial Departments of Health and Public Works respectively on the
successful completion of a sterling job.
"All 550 000 residents of the Southern Cape/Karoo health region will gain
advantage from the R90 million that the government spent towards the
improvements at George Regional Hospital," said Pierre Uys. "It enables us to
provide more specialist services to our people in places as remote as
Murraysburg, Laingsburg and Riversdale. I am proud of the quality service that
our staff provides at George Hospital," he said.
Western Cape Transport and Public Works Minister, Marius Fransman, said his
Department has committed itself to providing state of the art infrastructure
that assists in improving the health and rehabilitation of patients, while
providing comfortable accommodation. Minister Fransman said, "The single most
important aspect for the design team was the patients' experience of the
complex. Taking into account that the patient will be removed from their
everyday experience of life when visiting a hospital, it was important to
consider factors such as detachment from friends and loved ones, a sense of
confinement, loss of privacy and unfamiliar surroundings. This, together with
the knowledge of illness or serious injury can give rise to acute emotional
distress. And we will continue to construct facilities of this nature in
communities where they are needed most to ensure that we make the 'Western Cape
a Home for All'."
Some of the new and upgraded facilities are five clinical wards, a day
theatre and four upgraded operating theatres, a main kitchen, a linen bank and
a parking garage.
Enquiries:
Faiza Steyn
Tel: (021) 483 3235
Herman van der Westhuizen
Tel: (021) 483 2627
Issued by: Department of Health, Western Cape Provincial Government
30 June 2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
