POLOKWANE – The state-of-the-art central academic hospital in Polokwane will have permanent alternative electricity supply, given the challenges experienced today and in line with that of the foreseeable future.
This is according to Health MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, while on site with the Premier, Chupu Mathabatha, as he this week led representatives of Provincial Government in officially handing over erf 6861, bordering Edu Park on Webster Street.
Read more: Polokwane’s academic hospital will have economic benefits – Premier
The contract spans five years.
According to Ramathuba, the magnitude of the R5b hospital, situated on 25 hectares of land, would involve forms of robotics that may be burdensome to the national grid, and against this backdrop, the project will require substantial generators, built-in solar, wind power machinery and other forms of renewable power supplies that will augment current and foreseeable electricity sources.
The current infrastructure at health care facilities in the province, including the city, don’t have the ability to accommodate the necessary alternative energy devices, as Ramathuba remarked, but they have procured some generators, that function almost full-time given the stages at which electricity is shed.
Although the Gauteng High Court in early May ruled that hospitals and clinics, among others, should be exempted from load-shedding, Ramathuba said they are confident that the exemption, will ensure the academic hospital will function optimally.
The vision of an academic hospital has been on the cards since the premier took office, and was made mention of in several of his State of the Province addresses over the years.
His office recently also issued a tender call for experts to bid for the supply of alternative energy in some Limpopo organs of state.
“We are looking at both sun and wind as alternative energy supply sources, even for this hospital. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently called on all provincial governments to come up with plans to reduce pressure on the power grid, and that is why the tender bid is currently open,” the premier remarked.
He added that they are also looking into the possibility of using clean coal, which would not be hazardous to the environment.
Mathabatha expressed great satisfaction at the possibilities that the hospital holds once completed.
“There is no other Southern African Development Community (SADC) health facility that reaches the magnitude of the envisaged socio-economic giant. From Zimbabwe to Zambia, there is no hospital of this size.”
The project will employ 2 400 people during the construction phase, and will attract medical professionals from across the board.
The apportioned land will also accommodate a medical school, where quaternary (knowledge) students will receive practical training.
