Two hospital CEOs facing possible suspension

THE Eastern Cape department of health has written to two of its hospital CEOs and their deputies to ask why they should not be suspended.

Those with their heads on the block are the CEO and deputy nursing manager of Madwaleni Hospital in Elliotdale and the CEO and deputy nursing manager of Butterworth Hospital.

The department drafted the suspension letters last week following a Saturday Dispatch report stating Madwaleni Hospital had been storing three bodies of stillborn babies as far back as 2012.

The remains of a stillborn baby were exhumed from a dumpsite on the grounds of the hospital last Wednesday.

The exhumation took place after residents of Elliotdale and their traditional leaders approached law enforcement and the courts amid claims a baby had been buried on the premises of the hospital in June.

At Butterworth Hospital, the report stated a patient had died and the corpse was left in a ward with other patients for more than 12 hours.

Eastern Cape health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the managers were given five days to explain why they should not be suspended while a probe by the department and the Bhisho Legislature is still ongoing.

“The notice with intent to suspend in Madwaleni Hospital relates to babies being buried in the premises or kept in the fridge for a prolonged period.

“At Butterworth it relates to allegations of a corpse being left in the ward with patients for hours,” Kupelo said.

On returning from his visit at Madwaleni, the chairman of the portfolio committee on health in the Bhisho Legislature Mxolisi Dimaza had also advised the department to take serious action against authorities, “the sooner the better”.

“These incidents reflect poor management,” Dimaza told the Dispatch.

“It is time the department of health showed the people of this province that action will be taken against poor management in our health facilities,” Dimaza said.

Kupelo said in the wake of the events, health MEC Pumza Dyantyi had once again called on hospital managers to practice the Batho Pele “people first” principle, as people should be treated with dignity at all times. —