Chegutu District Hospital suspends mortuary services

CHEGUTU District Hospital has, with immediate effect, suspended mortuary services to pave way for renovations by Nyaradzo Funeral Services.

Hospital authorities were under fi re from residents and patients for neglecting the mortuary which had been dysfunctional for more than 10 months, with patients reportedly sharing hospital wards with corpses until their collection by funeral service providers.

Th e mortuary had capacity to hold 16 bodies before the refrigeration system broke down, forcing it to accommodate eight bodies.

At least six bodies had not been claimed for more than three years leaving the mortuary with room for only two more bodies.

Chegutu District medical offi cer Dr Tonderai Nhende said members of the public were expected to collect their relatives’ bodies as soon as possible.

“The hospital’s mortuary is undergoing renovations. As a result, we are not taking any body to the mortuary. To that effect we would really appreciate it if we could collect the bodies of our loved ones as soon as we receive the news of their death since we do not have anywhere to keep the bodies. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Dr Nhende said all bodies should be referred to Kadoma General Hospital and funeral service providers.

“Nyaradzo Funeral Services is renovating the mortuary and we are not too sure when they will fi nish, but we are pushing them to do so in the shortest possible time.

‘‘ The renovations may take up to two or three months and for such services we are using Kadoma General Hospital,” he said.

“Those who can afford can go to Nyaradzo, Doves and Moonlight funeral services but the rest can go to Kadoma.”