Residence for hospital staff completed

THABAZIMBI – The residential accommodation of the new Thabazimbi Hospital was recently completed. It is situated to the left of the Lephalale road just outside Thabazimbi, opposite the Hervormde Kerk. The provisional completion date for the hospital is 2012 and it will be built at an estimated cost of R96 million.
The completed section is the accommodation for scarce skills staff such as doctors and nurses. Ten two bedroom units, ten bachelor flats and a nursing home which can accommodate ten people have been completed. The reason for creating this accommodation serves as a strategy to recruit and retain skilled medical staff to rural districts such as Thabazimbi. All the units are already occupied and the hospital has indeed succeeded in doubling the number of doctors from four to ten.
Another new building to the western side of the same premises is the offices of SASSA (South African Social Security Agency) which is almost completed and should be in use by April this year. These are the offices where applications for social grants will be received. This is a handsome facebrick building and can be noticed from Lood Street on the way into Regorogile. Since this agency resorts under the Department of Health and Social Development, the new hospital building and social grants offices are all part of the same development.
The new hospital will contain 122 beds, as opposed to the current 56 beds, and will have two theatres instead of one. A mortuary, which the hospital currently lacks, is also planned for the the new hospital. Despite all these improvements the hospital will still be classified a Level One hospital, also known as a district hospital. However the new hospital will have to accommodate a growing number of patients, since Thabazimbi is a fast growing town. The hospital’s first priority is to serve the local patients, but some patients come from towns in the North West Province, and they cannot be denied medical help, says hospital CEO, Mr Malesela Makinta.
Additional services currently offered by the hospital is that of a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, optometrist, dentist, psychologist, social worker and dietician. There is a Wellness Clinic which is run in conjunction with NGO’s (non government organizations). Here HIV testing is conducted, HIV positive patients are counselled, TB treatment is given, diets prescribed for specific health conditions and an ARV (anti-retro virals) programme followed. A doctor, nurse, dietician and two Aids counsellors are on duty at the Wellness Clinic. Food parcels are also distributed as part of the ARV programme.