At least 18 patients have died at the Rev Dr Elizabeth Mamisa Chabula Nxiweni field hospital since it started admitting patients in July.
This was according to the field hospital CEO Dr Limpho Ramangoaela, who was speaking to a delegation from the Eastern Cape government led by premier Oscar Mabuyane on Tuesday.
Ramangoaela told the premier, accompanied by health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, that the field hospital had admitted 355 patients since it opened and 237 of those patients had been discharged.
Former VWSA chair and MD Thomas Schaefer, who on Tuesday handed over personal protective equipment worth R10m, officially handed over the field hospital funded by the German federal ministry for economic co-operation and development (BMZ) on June 23.
The automotive giant secured R100m grant funding from the German government and handed over the first phase of the field hospital, which now has the capacity to accommodate 1,485 patients, including high-acuity patients who required oxygenation.
On Tuesday, Ramangoaela said: “There are a few ablution facilities and not enough kitchen space and as more people come in it’ll become a nightmare in terms of rotating people for tea and maintaining social distancing.
“We have 229 oxygenated beds and we’re working on increasing this to 541 oxygenated beds.
“We’ve had 355 patients admitted, 237 discharged and 18 deaths thus far.
“We also have one patient on the high-flow oxygen meter.
“He arrived on Tuesday and was stabilised to be taken to the other ward,” she said.
On Tuesday, while handing over PPE at the NHLS branch in Port Elizabeth, Schaefer said VWSA had been pushing the department of health hard to commit sufficient staffing and agreed level of operations.
“The current level of patient occupation is far lower than its capacity while media report about the shortage of beds and oxygen at our public hospitals in Mandela Bay.
“We we find this unacceptable.
“We’ve had various meetings with the department to find a speedy resolution to this undesirable situation.
“An action plan was presented to us and we’ll see how effective it is in the next few days.
“The German government is still fully committed to helping the Eastern Cape in the fight against Covid-19,” Schaefer said.
Asked what the miscommunication with the health department and VWSA over bed occupation was about, health deputy director-general Dr Litha Matiwane said the department could not bring patients over from other facilities without having staff.
“In the beginning, [we] couldn’t have a large number of people working there without patients, but now we’ve employed about 50% of the personnel in the field hospital.
“However, there’s a little bit of a plateau in terms of people coming in.
“We’re increasing oxygenated beds to reduce the load of patients at hospitals.
“We’ll bring in those patients who are diabetic to the field hospital,” Matiwane said.
- HeraldLIVE
Field hospital still not running at capacity
Image: WERNER HILLS
At least 18 patients have died at the Rev Dr Elizabeth Mamisa Chabula Nxiweni field hospital since it started admitting patients in July.
This was according to the field hospital CEO Dr Limpho Ramangoaela, who was speaking to a delegation from the Eastern Cape government led by premier Oscar Mabuyane on Tuesday.
Ramangoaela told the premier, accompanied by health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, that the field hospital had admitted 355 patients since it opened and 237 of those patients had been discharged.
Former VWSA chair and MD Thomas Schaefer, who on Tuesday handed over personal protective equipment worth R10m, officially handed over the field hospital funded by the German federal ministry for economic co-operation and development (BMZ) on June 23.
The automotive giant secured R100m grant funding from the German government and handed over the first phase of the field hospital, which now has the capacity to accommodate 1,485 patients, including high-acuity patients who required oxygenation.
On Tuesday, Ramangoaela said: “There are a few ablution facilities and not enough kitchen space and as more people come in it’ll become a nightmare in terms of rotating people for tea and maintaining social distancing.
“We have 229 oxygenated beds and we’re working on increasing this to 541 oxygenated beds.
“We’ve had 355 patients admitted, 237 discharged and 18 deaths thus far.
“We also have one patient on the high-flow oxygen meter.
“He arrived on Tuesday and was stabilised to be taken to the other ward,” she said.
On Tuesday, while handing over PPE at the NHLS branch in Port Elizabeth, Schaefer said VWSA had been pushing the department of health hard to commit sufficient staffing and agreed level of operations.
“The current level of patient occupation is far lower than its capacity while media report about the shortage of beds and oxygen at our public hospitals in Mandela Bay.
“We we find this unacceptable.
“We’ve had various meetings with the department to find a speedy resolution to this undesirable situation.
“An action plan was presented to us and we’ll see how effective it is in the next few days.
“The German government is still fully committed to helping the Eastern Cape in the fight against Covid-19,” Schaefer said.
Asked what the miscommunication with the health department and VWSA over bed occupation was about, health deputy director-general Dr Litha Matiwane said the department could not bring patients over from other facilities without having staff.
“In the beginning, [we] couldn’t have a large number of people working there without patients, but now we’ve employed about 50% of the personnel in the field hospital.
“However, there’s a little bit of a plateau in terms of people coming in.
“We’re increasing oxygenated beds to reduce the load of patients at hospitals.
“We’ll bring in those patients who are diabetic to the field hospital,” Matiwane said.
- HeraldLIVE
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