MEC opens new facilities

Mpumalanga MEC for Health, Mr Gillion Mashego recently opened the newly built orthotic and prosthetic workshop and the hospital warehouse stores in the Ermelo Regional Hospital.

The workshop is equipped with a range of machinery that will assist the hospital in addressing the orthopedic backlog they are currently experiencing.

Mr Mashego said the machinery includes the state-of-art 4d computer currently found only in Tshwane University of Technology and in Ermelo Hospital, which helps with designing new artificial limbs in less than half the time compared to older equipment.

“I am currently in talks with orthopedic specialists in Witbank and Nelspruit to draft a plan to attract more specialists to the province. We are also working with the University of Pretoria to assist us in getting more doctors to come to this province,” said Mr Mashego.

He attributed part of the challenges to the administrative red tape and prolonged paperwork in hiring doctors.
“We have a situation where our processes take long in hiring doctors and by the time we’re done, the candidate has already been snatched up elsewhere,” he said.

The MEC also said that the province had received doctors from Cuba and they were now moving towards 10 orthopedics surgeons who would be spread across the province to assist with the backlog.

During his visit, Mr Mashego also visited the refurbished ICU unit where he was requested to add more professional nurses and beds, a request he said was already on his priority list.

“The ICU is equipped with very expensive machinery with which we’re trying to move towards the standards of private hospitals in line with the National Health Insurance (NHI). Government is trying its best. I just need to assist the hospital with more professional nurses,”said Mr Mashego.

He also mentioned that his department was working towards re-categorising Ermelo Hospital from an urban area facility to a rural area facility which is also a contributing factor to most professional staff not staying long.

“The present categorisation makes it difficult for the department to retain some of the staff, because we’re unable to match allowances paid in urban facilities,”said Mr Mashego.

The MEC went on to officially open the newly built R29 million hospital warehouse stores. The building houses a laundry and linen facility equipped withthe necessary machinery.

Mr Mashego mentioned that gone are the days where the hospital laundry will be done in Bethal as everything will be done in house.

The warehose also has a poison room where all poisonous materials are kept separate, a filing room and massive cold room, among others. The MEC said this would address their stock shortages, because the hospital now has a storeroom for everything it needs, from food to stationery.

When asked about interventions to deal with staff attitude, Mr Mashego said they would provide training to deal with this problem.

Ermelo Regional Hospital CEO Ms Cathrine Mbuyane expressed the hospital’s gratitude for the support from the principals and pledged that they would provide good leadership to the institution. She encouraged the staff to give only their best, seeing that part of the challenges had been addressed.

Executive Mayor of Msukaligwa Municipality Mr Sipho Bongwe said as political leadership they would support the hospital as much as they could. He appealed to communities to elect people to the hospital board who would develop positiveness and have a way of motivating and encouraging nurses and communities.

“Let us together jealously protect these facilities so that we leave a good heritage for our children. We don’t expect the hospital to run out of supplies with such a big warehouse or store room. In general, I’m pleased with the strides made by the MEC and his department to uplift the health standard and facilities at the hospital,” said Mr Bongwe.