Hi-tech hospital for E Cape
Lucky Khumalo
9 December 2004
The R500-million Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape has opened its doors, boasting state-of-the-art medical facilities and the capacity to benefit at least 2.5-million rural South Africans.
The hospital, officially opened by President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday, is a 506-bed tertiary facility built and equipped to international standards.
The hospital will provide services for people in Mthatha and the north-eastern parts of the province, with a much-needed tertiary referral service within the primary healthcare system.
It is part of a hospital complex that includes the Mthatha General and Bedford orthopaedic hospitals and supports the medical school attached to the University of Transkei.
Mbeki said the hospital would help to address the health needs of at least 2.5-million people in a rural region that was "formerly little more than a labour reservoir and a homeland of endemic ill-health".
"Our
strategic approach to delivering healthcare services has been developed holistically so that patients can first access a clinic such as at the Mbekweni Community Healthcare Centre, or referral hospitals such as St Barnabas in Libode, St Patrick's in Bizana, St Lucy in Tsolo, or even the old Mthatha General Hospital", Mbeki said.
He added that the new facility would help the government develop further its capacity to access telemedicine, bringing the most modern information and communication technologies to the rural region.
Reading a message from former president Nelson Mandela, Premier Nosimo Balindlela said this was the realisation of a long dream for the people of the Eastern Cape.
Source: BuaNews
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