HALF OF NEW GERMISTON HOSPITAL UNUSED

.

150 out of 300 beds in the newly built Bertha Gxowa Hospital in Germiston are unused because of staff and budget constraints.
This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.
This hospital has only 622 staff instead of the 1065 staff that would be needed to serve all 300 beds There are 18 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, four of which are in use as High Care and the others are unused.
No date is given for when all the beds will be in use. According to Papo, it will be “as and when both financial and human resources are sufficiently available”. The building of a half-empty hospital shows poor planning.
All hospitals on the East Rand are under pressure, so it is disappointing that so many beds at this hospital are unused. Many seriously ill patients die because of a lack of ICU beds, but 14 ICU beds at Bertha Gxowa lie empty. These beds are needed, and efforts should be made to get the staff and budget so that this hospital runs at full capacity.
Jack Bloom
WHISNews21: Hospitals are half staffed but government officials drive luxury German cars and live in huge mansions in the suburbs, and when sick book into private hospitals with the best medical care money can buy. So building a new hospital and not staffing it with a full compliment of staff while half of South Africa is out of work no problem……