WHEN the country went into lockdown on 27 March, the government’s aim was to use the time to ramp up the readiness of healthcare facilities and hospitals around the country in preparation for the expected Covid-19 peak.
In April, it was projected that the country would need between 4 100 and 14 767 ICU beds, as there were only 3 318 available at that time.
In light of this, the construction and allied industries worked around the clock to prepare for the onslaught of the pandemic.
Construction company, GVK-Siya Zama, with its extensive medical construction experience, had just completed an ICU/isolation section at a private hospital in Durban before lockdown when it received an order to create 24 new isolation beds at Clairwood and Wentworth hospitals.
“An isolation bed is like an intensive care bed, but with a positively pressurised anteroom and access control to prevent the spread of a virus,” said the contracts manager on the Wentworth site, Ryan Schneeberger.
“As the potential impact of Covid-19 became more apparent in March, health authorities recognised the shortage of isolation beds in the country. As lockdown had put a stop to approximately 99 per cent of all travel, the safest and most efficient way that construction work could commence on these projects was to accommodate key workers on site.”
One such worker was 28-year-old Kwazi Dladla, a junior foreman at the construction company. He was chosen to work at the Wentworth hospital site, where the company had to convert a derelict building into an eight-bed isolation unit in just 35 days. He was one of four core workers who lived in park homes on-site for the duration of the project.
“Not only was the Wentworth project deadline-driven and technically demanding, but the team had to deal with the new realities of Covid-19 during construction,” said Schneeberger.
“We had to establish a core team on-site as well as off-site to manage the work and Dladla was appointed as a junior foreman for the project – a step up from his previous position as supervisor. In a high-pressure situation such as this where the delivery was non-negotiable, you have to know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and I knew he would be great for the job.”
Dladla initially thought it would be a small project that entailed getting a building ready for patients. “But when I arrived on-site, there was specialist work such as installing air pressure systems and gas ducts. I also had to learn about Covid-19,” he said.
“At one time we had up to 75 people on site, including sub-contractors, so I had to make sure they all followed Covid-19 rules and that they sanitised and were socially distanced.”
In addition to successfully completing the isolation unit on time, the team was tasked with completing 22 quarantine beds, which included the same specialist air pressure systems as the isolation beds.
This was followed by work on the emergency and pharmacy sections at the hospital to change the patient flow in line with Covid-19 requirements.
The experience for the team at Clairwood hospital was similar as their project grew from an initial build of 16 beds to 93 beds, now due for completion early in September.
“I have gained a lot of experience that I wouldn’t have had without being exposed to the Covid-19 pandemic,” added Dladla.
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