Health MEC opens R100m oncology unit
“THIS is how much we care for our people,” health MEC Sicelo Gqobana said with pride yesterday as he officially opened the new R100-million oncology unit at Livingstone Hospital.
The MEC, accompanied by Department of Health director of clinical services Dr Litha Matiwane and Livingstone and Dora Nginza hospital CEOs Kobus Kotze and Bukelwa Mbulawa-Hans, was taken on a tour of the facility yesterday.
“We wanted to reward the people of Port Elizabeth for their resilience in difficult times. They deserve this,” Gqobana said.
“The Eastern Cape was a province with a poor oncology service and outdated equipment. It was previously housed at Port Elizabeth’s Provincial Hospital that was built in the late 1960s. Patients could no longer receive the treatment they needed over there.”
The new unit has state-of-theart equipment, a patients’ lounge where those travelling far for their treatment can relax, a light and airy chemotherapy room, private rooms, semi-private rooms and isolation facilities.
The unit also has a dedicated prayer room.
Gqobana even inspected the public toilets to make sure they were up to standard.
“This facility exceeds what is available in the private sector,” he said, adding they hoped to treat some 10 000 patients this year.
“We have also seen a substantial improvement in the waiting period for treatment, from eight weeks to six weeks.”
He said the unit would focus on treating four of the most prevalent cancers in the province: breast cancer, cervical cancer, oesophageal cancer and prostate cancer.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t treat the rest. I am just saying these are our priorities.”
Patricia Ndlovu, chairman of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s public health committee, said the new oncology unit was “patient-friendly” and presented a much better chance for the sick to get treatment.