Pretoria - The leadership of Gauteng have welcomed upgrades to the Mamelodi Day Hospital, which made it the Jerusalem of hospitals in the province.
Minister of Health Joe Phaahla, together with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Health and Wellness MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, thanked the chief executive Dr Naing Soe as well as the board of the Mamelodi Hospital, for their efforts to turn the face of the hospital around into something people from the township could be more proud of.
The hospital officially opened 13 newly upgraded and extended units at the Mamelodi Regional Hospital as part of the government’s broader health infrastructure development and improvement programme.
The programme was initiated to enhance public health service delivery by upgrading dilapidated structures and building new units for specialised services, with the upgrades also contributing to the reduction of backlogs and long waiting times at high-pressured health facilities.
Some of the upgraded and newly constructed units unveiled during the official ceremony on Friday included the eye clinic, Outpatient Department (OPD), waiting area, Mental Health and Choice on Termination of Pregnancy clinic.
Premier Lesufi thanked the leadership of the hospital for ensuring the upgrades to the facility were completed on time and within the allocated budget for them.
“I believe the CEO and the board of this hospital deserve the praise more than anyone else. This is what we call leadership, commitment, care and vision, and most importantly that they’ve done all these things within budget, within time and without any SIU investigation taking place.”
Lesufi urged the leadership of hospitals in the province to take on the hospital’s example, particularly facilities service townships, informal settlements and hostels.
“It hurts me to celebrate one hospital in a sea of many hospitals. It hurts me that when I leave here someone will go to our facilities and they will never get help or may not supper because we didn’t deliver.
“This democracy will be meaningless if you can’t change the living conditions of our people. If we continue having our patients waiting in long queues, no doctors, running out of medication or we don’t have the tools of the trade we may as well close the department.”
Phaahla thanked the CEO for the vision and for being able to turn the hospital around in his three-year leadership, so much so that the councillors and community have stated they no longer had reasons to toyi-toyi over issues there.
Phaahla said it was time that public servants admitted when they were wrong because as it was shocking how much public funds were spent with few results and it could not carry on in this manner.
“We are going to change the quality of healthcare and are happy that covid-19 did not break us. I believe we can build on small achievements like that of Mamelodi Hospital.”
Pretoria News