The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Health Reporter
HEALTH and Child Care Deputy Minister, Dr John Mangwiro last week came face-to-face with the appalling state of the Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital mortuary where some corpses are in body bags and on the floor.
Mortuary trays are ordinarily used in morgues.
The Deputy Minister paid an unannounced visit to the health facility last Saturday.
He noted that the mortuary only has the capacity to carry 10 bodies at a time, which is too small for a referral hospital.
Dr Mangwiro expressed his dismay and said the Government would step in to ensure the hospital has a state-of-the-art mortuary that can accommodate 45 bodies at any given time.
In an interview with The Manica Post, Dr Mangwiro said the Government would chart a way forward with the hospital’s authorities.
“We will have an urgent meeting with the Vice President, Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Health and Child Care Minister, together with Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital superintendent, Dr Dorcas Jaensch Masanga-Mutede, so that we chart the way forward.
“I want to reassure the public that in the coming weeks, a new mortuary will be functioning as resources are available to finish the mortuary project,” he said.
Deputy Minister Mangwiro said the old mortuary will also be repaired.
“The old mortuary is way too small for a big hospital like this one. The sorry state of the mortuary is not pleasing at all. Bodies are in body bags and on the floor and that is not something that we would expect to see at a referral hospital.
“The new mortuary has to start operating as soon as possible,” said Dr Mangwiro.
He said the Ministry of Health and Child Care will also repair the boilers that are connected to the incinerator.
“The incinerator is working well, but the boilers have not been working well for the past five years. We will make sure that we provide solar driven modern geysers as the boilers are very old and needs replacement,” he said.
A total of 29 stainless steel trays that were meant for the new morgue were stolen recently.
Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital’s public relations officer, Mrs Faustina Mutasa confirmed the theft of the mortuary trays back then and said the matter had been reported to the police.
