Kubayi-Ngubane: Charlotte Maxeke Hospital to reopen from next week
The Charlotte Maxeke Hospital had to be temporarily shut down in April, after several parts of it were gutted by a fire
The Acting Minister of Health, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has announced that the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg, will be reopened in phases, starting from next week.
Kubayi-Ngubane held a media briefing on Friday, June 18, 2021, to give an update on her department’s latest efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, particularly as the third wave of infections continues.
The Charlotte Maxeke Hospital had to be closed in April, after several parts of it were gutted by a fire. This forced the Gauteng Department of Health to transfer more than 800 patients to 17 health facilities across the province.
According to Kubayi-Ngubane, the oncology department will be the first to resume operations.
“We can confirm now that by next week the oncology side at Charlotte Maxeke will be handed over to start operating, which is phase 1. And once we have a date for phase 2, we will announce it. But I can confirm that work has been done with the province and it was based on what we needed to do. And I think the other issue that was a challenge was around the fire doors that needed to be manufactured and that took longer because without those the certificates would have taken longer to be issued.”
News of the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital opening its doors is undoubtedly a welcome relief for the province’s healthcare system, particularly as it attends to growing COVID-19 cases.
SANDF to help Gauteng fight COVID-19
Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has also announced that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) had been roped in to help tackle COVID-19 in Gauteng.
“I would really want to appeal, can we respond and save the lives of many South Africans in your province as the health practitioners are starting to be under pressure. We have requested additional capacity to assist Gauteng in terms of military help that has moved into the province to assist us by moving into the hospitals.”
“We need the human capital for the beds we are making available for managing the pandemic. The second area they will assist us in, is around mass testing, screening and contact tracing,” she said.