'Zombified' Otjiwarongo doctors juggle double shifts

Doctors at Otjiwarongo State Hospital walk its corridors like zombies, physically and emotionally drained by a staffing shortage that has left only eight medical practitioners doing the work of 40.

They move between Casualty, theatre, the Outpatient Department (OPD) and hospital wards, facing long queues of patients while remaining on standby for emergencies elsewhere in the facility.

Some patients arrive in the morning and wait until late afternoon for treatment, often unaware that the doctor they expected to see may also be responsible for several other departments.

A doctor familiar with operations at the hospital told Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity that the number of patients was not the real problem. The difficulty was that too few doctors were available to treat them.

“The influx of patients is not the problem, but the shortage,” the doctor said.

The Otjozondjupa Regional Council’s 2025/26 report lists 40 doctors as the staffing requirement for Otjiwarongo State Hospital, but records that only eight are available. This leaves the hospital with a shortage of 32 doctors and means it is operating with only one-fifth of the medical practitioners it requires.

The anonymous doctor said those who remained were forced to juggle responsibilities across different hospital sections.

“Casualty, I feel like it's always busy, and their doctors are very few. Maybe sometimes you only find maybe two doctors,” the source said.

A doctor assigned to the OPD could attend to approximately 40 patients in a day while also being required to examine patients admitted to the wards.

The repeated movement between departments, combined with long hours and standby duties, was taking a toll.

“It is very draining,” the doctor said.

Diseases descend on region

The staffing crisis comes as diseases invade Otjozondjupa like hungry locusts, adding malaria, cholera, measles and severe child malnutrition to the burden already carried by the depleted medical workforce.

More than 21 000 people were tested for malaria during the 2025/26 reporting period, with 1 601 testing positive and two deaths recorded.

The regional report does not indicate how many of these patients were treated at Otjiwarongo State Hospital, but the infections were recorded while the region’s centrally located hospital was operating with 32 fewer doctors than required.

A cholera outbreak in Grootfontein produced 188 suspected cases and 52 confirmed infections before it was contained without any fatalities. A measles outbreak claimed one life.

More than 21 000 children were screened for malnutrition, with 615 cases detected. Malnutrition was recorded as a cause of death for 31 children.

The combination of disease outbreaks and severe staff shortages means doctors must deal not only with the physical demands of treating patients but also with the anger and frustration generated by long waiting periods.

‘Look at the shortage’

The anonymous doctor said patients who had waited for hours sometimes accused medical staff of not working, without understanding how few doctors were available or how many responsibilities each doctor carried.

“Imagine working with so many different personalities and someone comes screaming at you. Won't you burst out of character?” the source said.

The doctor said medical practitioners were reluctant to speak publicly about their working conditions because they feared losing their jobs.

“It is tough, but at the same time one can't come publicly out and say these things because we risk losing our jobs,” the doctor said.

The source suggested that placing intern doctors at Otjiwarongo could provide some relief. Interns were more commonly deployed to hospitals in Windhoek, Onandjokwe and Rundu, the doctor said.

“It would be nice if we can get at least some intern doctors here,” the doctor said.

Otjozondjupa regional health director Gebhardo Timotheus confirmed on Thursday that the hospital’s approved staffing establishment provided for 40 doctors, but said the shortage could not simply be interpreted as 32 funded vacancies waiting to be filled.

Many of the positions existed on paper but could not be advertised because no money had been allocated to them.

“Those positions that we are referring to, yes, it's true, they are there. But there are no funds. They are not funded. That's why we cannot advertise them. We have no funds,” Timotheus said.

He said all funded medical-officer positions that were vacant had been advertised and rejected the suggestion that the health authorities were deliberately leaving funded posts unfilled.

A recent recruitment notice lists 15 medical-officer positions across Otjozondjupa, including two in Otjiwarongo, with applications closing on 20 September. Some became available after doctors resigned or transferred.

Timotheus said the staffing shortage extended beyond Otjiwarongo to other health facilities in the region. Although Otjiwarongo State Hospital is centrally located and serves a larger population than some district hospitals, it remains classified as a district hospital.

While the distinction between funded and unfunded positions may explain why 32 doctors cannot be recruited immediately, it offers little relief to the eight practitioners moving between departments or to patients waiting in crowded corridors.

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