Victoria Falls to get modern hospital
PLANS are underway to upgrade the Victoria Falls Hospital in Matabeleland North from a 40-bed hospital to a modern health facility that matches the city’s status as an international tourism destination, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Sleiman Timios Kwidini, has said.
He was speaking last week after touring the hospital and promised that this week, the hospital will receive a fully equipped ambulance from the Government.
Victoria Falls, the country’s tourism capital, was conferred with city status in 2019, hence the Government’s decision to upgrade its hospital to meet international standards.
According to the plan, the expansion project involves the demolition of some sections, putting signage, and building of new structures such as wards and staff accommodation.
Authorities have said health staff shun Victoria Falls because of the lack of accommodation for civil servants and high rentals charged by property owners.
Government’s decision to upgrade Victoria Falls Hospital comes at a time when significant progress has been made in the construction of Lupane Provincial Hospital in Lupane, which will also improve access to healthcare services.
Hwange has no district hospital and relies on Victoria Falls, St Patrick’s Hwange Colliery, Lukosi and Kamativi hospitals.
Once upgraded, Victoria Falls Hospital will be a referral facility for Hwange district and surrounding areas.
Deputy Minister Kwidini who is on a familiarisation tour of hospitals countrywide, said infrastructure development and improving the quality of services for both locals and tourists is top on the Government’s agenda.
“The major purpose of us visiting this hospital is to find out if there are any challenges, especially on medication and service delivery. It’s not good to get the information from reports. We have to come physically and find out for ourselves,” he said.
“The state of our health system is improving and we need to improve also on some infrastructure especially here in Victoria Falls we need to expand to make it big to accommodate more patients as the catchment area is big.”
Deputy Minister Kwidini said paperwork for the development of Victoria Falls Hospital is at an advanced stage.
“People will receive quality health services and I can promise you that this hospital is going to be upgraded into a 60-bed state-of-the-art hospital. Today we have also given them another new ambulance which is fully equipped and by next week it will be on the ground,” he said.
Deputy Minister Kwidini said the ultimate plan is to upgrade the hospital into a 250-bed facility in line with the original plans presented by Government last year.
There has been a concern about the need for health facilities that match the status of Victoria Falls as a tourism destination and ensure the safety of visitors.
Deputy Minister Kwidini said the tour of health facilities is a diversion from the old system of relying on reports which in most cases do not tally with what is on the ground.
He said he was impressed by the availability of drugs and other essentials at the hospital. Deputy Minister Kwidini said the Government is working on strategies to augment staffing in health facilities.
“The Second Republic is pursuing people driven service delivery strategies and these should be visible to people on the ground,” he said.
Deputy Minister Kwidini and his delegation are expected to visit other hospitals in Hwange, Lupane, Bulawayo and the Midlands province.