The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
STAKEHOLDERS in Makoni District have called for the opening of a second referral hospital to complement Rusape General Hospital.
Rusape General Hospital serves as a referral centre to 57 clinics, a situation which is forcing some patients to travel more than 90km to access services at the hospital.
Of the 57 medical institutions, five are rural hospitals which, however, do not have all the requisite requirements, chief among them resident or visiting doctors.
The rural hospitals are Weya at Chiendambuya Growth Point, Makoni in Rugoyi, St Michael’s in Tanda, St Theresa Mission Hospital and Dewedzo in Makoni West.
Only St Theresa briefly had a resident medical doctor.
Makoni Rural District Council chief executive officer, Dr Edward Pise said council, which operates 23 clinics, has plans to upgrade Headlands Clinic into a hospital considering the large number of patients it attends to and its strategic location.
“Patients are travelling long distances to access services at Rusape General Hospital and we want to upgrade Headlands Clinic as it is one of our busiest clinics. lt is now operating 24 hours a day.
“It is ideal for us to upgrade it as it will serve Headlands Growth Point, farming areas and Makoni North constituency, which is the remotest in the district. We are in the process of mobilising resources to upgrade it,” said Dr Pise.
Rusape General Hospital medical superintendent, Dr Stewart Karembo said having additional hospitals will help decongest the 260-bed hospital as patients will be treated closer to their homes.
“The district is one of the biggest, but it only has one secondary referral hospital catering for more than 325 000 villagers.
“We have five doctors against an establishment of 11 because of housing challenges. The work overload is straining health workers.
“We have to work together to upgrade one or two rural hospitals into fully-fledged district hospitals so that more people are served closer to their homes,” said Dr Karembo.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony of medical supplies worth US$10 000 at Rusape General Hospital last week, Makoni Development Association chairman, Mr Oswell Binha said stakeholders must pool resources together to assist the Ministry of Health and Child Care to upgrade rural hospitals.
