Harare Hospital in dire straits Partnerships way to go
evading payment by giving false residential addresses or not co-operating during follow-up revenue collections.
Hospital officials say that the outstanding debt is making it difficult for the referral hospital to provide some basic services.
The Government hospital, which serves hundreds of patients on a daily basis - mostly from the low-income bracket - is stuck between providing services to the poorest section of the population and enforcing a follow-up strategy on defaulting patients.
According to the Public Health Act, no-one is supposed to be turned away when they visit a public health centre to seek services due to non-payment.
The Sunday Mail Extra understands that although the hospital has devised ways of recovering debts by engaging debt collectors, not much is being recovered.
To add to these woes, many patients are by-passing the referral system, going straight to Harare Central Hospital under the illusion that services at the institution are free of charge.
This has resulted in the hospital making headlines countless times, usually for running out of drugs.
Earlier this year, Ms Zvavamwe was placed under investigation by the Ministry of Health and Child Care after she allegedly ordered the hospital’s finance department to stop all other procurements until they raised $88 359 required for the purchase of her official Jeep Cherokee.
Although the purchase of the Jeep Cherokee was in line with her conditions of service, the order came at a time when the institution was struggling to provide even pain-killers to its patients.
Added to the financial difficulties being faced by the hospital, water has been scarce at the hospital, with the institution going for days without the precious resource.
During the few days that water is avail- JOINT venture partnerships seem to be the way forward in reviving public health institutions.
Over the years, the public health sector has largely relied on donor funding with over 90 percent of drugs coming from donors.
Their operations are supposed to be financed from national budget grants.
However, these grants have not been enough to cover drugs, fuel, food and infrastructure maintenance, among many other necessities at the institutions.
Although it is a rare occasion for a health institution to thrive under harsh economic conditions, Chitungwiza Central Hospital seems to be holding fort as it is exhibiting excellence in service delivery, even surpassing some private institutions.
Major areas that were improved at the institution through joint ventures include theatres, ophthalmology, renal, laboratory, radiology, training, pharmacy, dental, mortuary, the
able at the institution, the pressure is usually so low that it does not reach the third floor wards.
Therefore the hospital is looking forward to improve the water supply with the completion of a water reservoir that has a 2,5 million-litre capacity. At least $800 000 is required to renew the dilapidated water system.
Speaking to this publication last year, Ms Zvavamwe promised that the dilapidated state of the hospital would soon be a thing public coffee shop and confectionery.
The theatre department is equipped with the latest six anaesthetic machines, two diathermy plates, LED lights, four theatre beds and laparoscopy equipment.
Chitungwiza Central Hospital also works closely with stakeholders in the community that include church organisations, musicians and business people to raise funds for service provision.
The chief executive officer, Dr Obadiah Moyo, said these partnerships have enabled rehabilitation of most hospital sections that were dilapidated.
“While the hospital is supposed to benefit from the national budget funds, the health sector is underfunded. Hence the hospital resorted to operating in partnership with the private sector,” explained Dr Moyo.
“We always work outside the box. We just don’t sit back and wait for the Government to fund us, we won’t get tired of begging as long as it’s for our benefit.”
of the past as they had commenced renovations in the hospital’s wards.
Back then, the estimates of renovating a single ward with vinyl sheeting for the floors, to prevent bacterial and fungal growth, was put at at least $30 000.
A number of churches and organisations have adopted certain wards to ease the financial burden at the health institution.
These include Celebration Health, Methodist Church, Seventh Day Adventist, Impala Motors and Stanbic Bank, among others. The hospital was officially opened in 1958 after having been built in 1945 with a bed occupancy of 630 patients. lt has grown to be one of the largest referral centres in the country but is now operating below capacity due to financial constraints.
HCH has grown to accommodate 1 200 maternal, paediatric, psychiatric and medicinal patients’ beds.
The meagre funds that the hospital gets from central Government is also used to cater for the needs of groups exempted from paying hospital fees, such as children under five years of age, senior citizens (those over 65 years) and those in the psychiatric unit.
The hospital, which recently received 600 beds from Government, acquired as part of the $100 million Chinese loan, meant to procure medical devices ranging from basic hospital beds to sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging machines, has been aspiring to expand its mortuary since 2005 at a cost of at least $1,5 million.
The new mortuary is anticipated to have a holding capacity of at least 208 corpses after completion, compared to the 146-corpse holding capacity of the old mortuary.
However, the incomplete mortuary now has trees growing inside. The hospital’s maintenance team occasionally cuts them down. Then there is the issue of inadequate staff accommodation.
At one point, the hospital tabled plans to engage investors to build apartments on a build-operate-transfer arrangement where the funder would build, own and let out accommodation to the hospital for a certain period of time to recover their costs.
Thereafter, the funder would hand over the apartments to the hospital.