Flats planned to house Ingutsheni hospital staff

THERE are plans by Government to construct institutional housing flats at Ingutsheni Central Hospital in Bulawayo to accommodate health sector workers in the city.

This comes as Government has completed renovating a block of flats at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo which was burnt last year and Government committed $287 million for its repair.

Government is exploring various ways of incentivising public service workers through monitory and non- monitory benefits, among them accommodation, transport, on-site canteens, duty-free vehicle import schemes and others.

Some housing projects are already underway, especially in Harare for health workers particularly doctors as Government seeks to retain skills by attending to challenges of accommodation that face the sector.

In an interview in Victoria Falls recently, Health and Child Care Permanent Secretary Dr Jasper Chimedza said institutional accommodation will be constructed at facilities in provinces and districts.

Vice President Dr Costantino Chiwenga, who is also Health and Child Care Minister, is on record saying Lupane Provincial Hospital, which is under construction in Lupane will be the first health facility to fully-fledged have on-site accommodation for health staff.

Dr Chimedza said through a partnership between the Ministry of Health and Zimbabwe Defence Forces, rehabilitation of the Mpilo Central Hospital block of flats has been completed and what’s left is to hand it over.

He said commissioning will be done before the end of the year.

“We are planning to put institutional accommodation at Ingutsheni Central Hospital because there is land there. This will be able to accommodate health workers from Mpilo Central Hospital and the United Bulawayo Hospitals.

“The plans and land have been identified and we are in talks with various contractors who can build flats faster using new technology,” said Dr Chimedza.

Dr Chimedza said some of the contractors Government is engaging are from South Africa and research is being carried out to see the quality of what they can come up with.

“With these innovations, we should be able to roll out accommodation for health workers. Of course, we are still working on the issue of salaries and incentives but we have not stopped pursuing accommodation as well,” said the Permanent Secretary.

He commended development partners for helping the health sector to support the human resource in the Ministry, which is the central factor in terms of health delivery.