Hospital has a million patients to care for

The chief medical officer at the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, Dr Korbinian Vizcaya Amutenya, says that the northern hospital is basically a referral hospital as all the northern district hospitals as well as the Angolan healthcare services, refer their patients there.He said this is due to the fact that the hospital is well-equipped with the latest technology that are lacking at district hospitals in the northern areas.Amutenya, who is the hospital's former medical superintendent, was speaking during the cataract surgical campaign in Oshakati last week. He said the hospital, situated in the Oshana Region, does not only cater for patients within the region, but due to its extended facilities, now also caters for patients suffering from serious conditions, from all the district hospitals.“We receive patients from the northern Kunene Region and also from the Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Kavango East regions. Hospitals in the south of Angola also refer their patients to us. This is because of the medical infrastructure our hospital has,” Amutenya said.Amutenya made these remarks while answering the media's questions on the ophthalmology campaign last week. It is reported that the only intermediate hospital in the region is responsible for providing healthcare to more than 950 000 people. He said that the number of patients at the hospital increased when government announced that Angolans can also be treated in Namibian hospitals, just as Namibians.The health ministry is in the process of constructing a referral hospital in the Oshana Region for referral patients from the northern regions of Oshana, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto, Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Zambezi and southern Angola.During May this year, the regional leadership from these eight regions agreed during a consultative meeting in Ongwediva with health minister Dr Bernard Haufiku that the referral hospital will be built in Oshana. Haufiku had convened the meeting to sell the idea of building a facility, like the Windhoek Central Hospital, in the Oshana Region to address the transportation of patients some 700 kilometres to Windhoek.The decision has divided the political leadership of Oshana Region. This was the meeting that agreed for the hospital to be built in Oshana. The health ministry had earlier indicated that Ondangwa was an ideal location for the construction of the district hospital. This however, appears to have been shelved and the state-of-the-art referral hospital will now most likely be constructed in Ongwediva. The youth of Ondangwa demonstrated on the matter accusing the regional governor, Clemens Kashuupulwa, of diverting the hospital's plan away from Ondangwa, saying he has done so before with government-funded projects. Meanwhile, the political leadership went to State House to seek an audience with President Hage Geingob for the hospital to be built in their town. ILENI NANDJATO

Hospital has a million patients to care for

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-08-18

Please login to leave a comment

Hospital has a million patients to care for

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-08-18

Please login to leave a comment

Login