In the first week of May, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) announced that they will be creating a temporary medical facility for Covid-19 patients and on 24 June 2020 handed over the first phase of the project to the Eastern Cape Department of Health.
The facility is created in the vacant areas of the former Port Elizabeth plant, situated in Neave. The first phase of creating and equipping the facility has been completed with the assistance of funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The facility can now accommodate 1 485 patients including high-acuity patients who require oxygenation and this number will increase to more than 3 300 once the second and third phases have been completed in accordance with the Department of Health’s standard operating procedures for field hospitals.
The R100 million funding from BMZ is being utilized within a performance framework which was developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and sees the effective collaboration between VWSA, Eastern Cape Department of Health, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber. VWSA started the first phase of the project and equipping the 66 000m² facilities with the Business Chamber assisting in the facilitation of the project and after the handover, the Department of Health will be responsible for running the facility, with support from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
In addition to the R100 million funding from BMZ, VWSA contributed a further R25 million to the overall project as well as took responsibility in the procurement of protective gear for staff at regional tertiary hospitals, regional Primary Care Clinics and Covid-19 test centres. Of the total funds available, R11 million will go to the support of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) branch in Port Elizabeth which is responsible for the majority of Covid-19 testing in the metro. One of the main challenges faced by the Port Elizabeth NHLS branch is a shortage of testing kits and VWSA will assist in sourcing all the necessary equipment with the aim to double the laboratory’s daily average output of 1 500 tests to more than 3 000 tests.
“We have learned that collaboration is key when facing an unprecedented threat such as Covid-19. This pandemic requires us to act decisively and with speed. VWSA has answered this call by completing and delivering phase 1 of the medical facility at the time when it is desperately needed by our Metro which is currently experiencing an alarming increase of infections. We are honoured to be able to provide this facility so our communities can receive the care they need during this difficult period of our lifetime,” Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director, VWSA.
“The testing process in the Metro needs to be optimised to enable tracing. This remains crucial as it will ultimately allow us to curb the spread of the virus. It is our hope that the support we offer to the NHLS will enable them to perform their potentially life-saving duties more effectively. I am very grateful to the German government for making both these projects possible and helping us to protect our community,” Schaefer concluded.
“The intervention by Volkswagen Group South Africa and the German government, to invest in the establishment of this 3 300-bed field hospital, came at the right time as more than 12 000 people in our province are infected by Covid-19. It is neatly dove-tailing into our broader strategy of establishing field hospitals to fight Covid-19 in the Eastern Cape. We were looking for more beds to increase our capacity and ensure that whoever is in need of hospitalisation, would be able to get that support from this public-private partnership,” Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, Premier, Eastern Cape.
The temporary hospital will be named the Rev. Dr Elizabeth Mamisa Chabula-Nxiweni Field Hospital. This honor comes as she is a vocal advocate for safe circumcision during initiation ceremonies and has served the Nelson Mandela Bay as a doctor, a Presbyterian minister and a former Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal Health Chief.
“This is an honour to one of our brightest medical minds with a heart of gold and a spirit to serve our people. With this honour, we thank her for her service to our people. The German government and VWSA have shown their good hearts in answering this call for international solidarity. This investment in human beings came at the right time. It’s a very progressive way of ploughing back into the community where you are doing business, 3 330 beds is huge; we appreciate the humanitarian gesture by the donors. It is a responsible investment. We are in this campaign to save lives,” concluded Mabuyane.
Dr Gerd Müller, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, commented: “I am pleased that the temporary hospital in Port Elizabeth opened today. Working together with Volkswagen South Africa, we have managed in just seven weeks to convert a factory that was not being used into a facility for Covid-19 patients. We are thus able to provide 3 300 additional hospital beds including 800 with oxygenation.”
“This contribution is part of our global Emergency Covid-19 Support Programme to help expand health infrastructure in developing countries, ensure food security and stabilise crisis and refugee regions. This support is needed because the coronavirus has not only caused a global health crisis; it has also led to a dramatic food and economic crisis. We all must realise that we either beat Covid-19 worldwide or not at all,” Müller concluded.
