We are renovating, Shangula says of dilapidated hospital

The health ministry yesterday scrambled to show that it is improving congestion and the dilapidated state of the Katutura State Hospital, yet realities on the ground proved the contrary. Some state-of-the-art Covid-19 units stand idle, while patients are forced to sleep in ramshackle wards where rats run amok. Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula in 2020 promised that renovations would start “soon”, yet construction to the hospital’s casualty ward only began two months ago, and is expected to be completed in October.The casualty renovation is part of ‘Project 9682 – You are more than a number’, a collaboration between Standard Bank Namibia and the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund to upgrade the hospital’s emergency unit.The minister yesterday could not share details on whether government has allocated funding towards this project, but added that it is "an old project" that was long in the pipeline. With the exception of the casualty renovations, no other constructions were underway on the hospital premises yesterday - despite the insistence by both the minister and the hospital management that “renovations are ongoing”.Leftovers to blame for ratsThe minister also had no explanation for the fact that patients are forced to sleep next to crumbling walls and instead blamed the renovation delay on the outbreak of Covid-19. He added that it is difficult to renovate a hospital under such conditions because there is nowhere to take patients while renovations are underway. In some rooms, beds and cots are used as washing lines, exposing sick children and other patients to moisture. “The health ministry is not only Katutura hospital, a lot of work is done at Windhoek Central, Katima Mulilo, Gobabis, Rundu and Keetmanshoop. I don’t pay attention to what people say. Politicians try to use this for popularity, but I am focusing on the work. "It is a free country, you can say anything you want to say, but facts speak for itself,” Shangula fumed. He also laid the blame for the hospital’s rat infestation on patients who keep leftover food with them, adding that fumigation causes a health hazard.‘We do what we can’Meanwhile, Katutura State Hospital superintendent Dr Nelago Amugulu said for the last few years, renovations were indeed done at the hospital, but on a piecemeal basis, which is not sustainable and extremely costly. “You cannot renovate the entire building at once, it can only be done piecemeal or ward by ward. The hospital cannot be closed for renovations. “We do what we can within the funding allocated. But work has been going on. When you look at the sheer size of this hospital, the sheer [number] of people admitted - we have now brought the casualty people here to the Big Room, which serves as an admission room, but even here it is overcrowded and we need to do something about the ventilation,” she told the minister.She added that they have been constantly fumigating to address the rodent infestation, but piping and sewerage challenges make it difficult to maintain. AlternativesThe Katutura hospital plays host to an average of 1 000 patients on a daily basis, and to aid decongestion in the main building, management has repurposed the old laboratory administration building into a 96-bed unit. “We have changed the top floor into a paediatric unit and have since removed half of babies admitted on the eighth floor of the hospital. We have also repurposed the other Covid unit near the maternity ward to become an extension of the maternity ward. “The situation in the hospital is bad. In some rooms, the capacity is only for four people but we are forced to squeeze in about 10 people in a room,” she said. When Namibian Sun arrived at the hospital, only a handful of people were seen walking around in the unit, with a number of beds standing empty. Another state-of-the art Covid-19 unit behind the hospital was found locked and unoccupied, while patients scrambled for beds in the main hospital. jemima@namibiansun.com

We are renovating, Shangula says of dilapidated hospital

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-11

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We are renovating, Shangula says of dilapidated hospital

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-11

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