Patients discharged as Sinozam hospital is closed

THIRTY-FOUR patients, among them 13 pregnant women were on Tuesday afternoon prematurely discharged from the Chinese-owned Sinozam Friendship Hospital (SFH) after officers from the Health Professionals Council of Zambia closed the institution.

The hospital which caters for a population of more than 37,000 people from Nkana West, Nkana East, Twibukishe, Chachacha and others was closed for allegedly stocking expired tubes and some drugs. Hospital Human Resources Manager Justin Ndhlovu confirmed the closure during a press briefing and said all the patients who were admitted to the hospital were either prematurely discharged or taken to Kitwe Teaching Hospital (KTH). "Yes, I can confirm that officers from HPCZ visited the hospital and ordered for its closure and told us that they will give us a report after one week. According to them, they closed because they found expired tubes and drugs. "By the time of the closure, we had 13 maternity cases, 17 general cases and four high cost cases. So right now, we will remain closed because they have told us not to admit any patients because that could be another case,'' Mr Ndhlovu said. Mr Ndhlovu said the closure would increase congestion in other hospitals like KTH which have been referring some cases to SFH. He said the hospital has a bed capacity of 85 and was treating an average of 200 people per day, thereby supplementing the efforts of other health institutions. "Some of the patients who have been prematurely discharged or referred to KTH were actually referred to SFH for specialised treatment from KTH, but with this closure, the congestion will worsen at the government hospital,'' he said. And SFH Chief Medical Officer Qin Xi Sheng complained over the closure of the institution, saying the hospital had been providing quality services and was wondering why HPCZ had decided to close it. Dr Sheng said SFH was not for the Chinese only, but also Zambians and so he did not understand why people would move in, to close the institution. "This hospital gets patients from KTH and other districts for specialised treatment, but we are failing to understand why the HPCZ could do such a thing. This hospital is not for Chinese only, but also Zambians. This is why it is called Sinozam Friendship Hospital'' Dr Sheng said.