Takeaways as Sir Ketumile Hospital charters beyond COVID-19

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As the world puts the COVID-19 pandemic behind, Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital (SKMTH) is also charing a new path as a private hospital. It is now clear that COVID cases have become very sporadic and as such SKMTH sees the need to shift from having a separate COVID-19 project and integrate it into the normal operations of hospitals.

SKMTH was mandated by the then Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) to be an isolation and treatment centre early March 2020. Initially the hospital admitted all patients before decentralisation and now the main referral centre.

In total SKMTH had 4,176 admissions and 3,071 recoveries, a recovery rate of 75%. Their death toll stood at 1,105, 42.5% of national mortality. At the moment the hospital has one active case.

Speaking during a media briefing on Tuesday, Commissioning Manager, Dr Ishmael Makone said their key milestones during COVID-19 was among others the installation of an Oxygen Tank (25 tons) at the peak of the pandemic. He said the tank will be useful for the foreseeable future. Makone also revealed that they also upgraded their ICU by partitioning it to increase isolation bed space.

On top of a mentoring programme to facilitate the opening of peripheral Isolation Centers and activation of High Care areas, Makone also disclosed that they managed to challenge various structures, equipment, systems and process in the hospital. He said gaps identified were acted upon. Makone indicated that they also opened a number of services. He said they were able to achieve provision of services through partnerships/collaboration with the Princess Marina Hospital (PMH), the University of Botswana (UB), the Gaborone District Health Management Team (GDHMT), the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) and the private sector.

Now that it has turned private, Makone said SKMTH has come a long way and it promises to change the health landscape in Botswana by providing services at quaternary level, providing a platform for teaching and creating a platform for Biomedical research. He said the hospital is committed to providing excellent, sustainable, compassionate patient centred service that will build stakeholder trust services through collaborations and networks.

He said among the factors considered in introducing services at SKMTH includes building on COVID-19 service momentum among others and the capacity to generate revenue for SKMTH hence potential for self-sustenance.