Lady Pohamba hospital opens

Poor Namibians who cannot afford private hospitals like the new Lady Pohamba Private Hospital in Windhoek will be provided for by the government. This was said yesterday by former First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba, who is the patron of the N$380 million hospital. She said she ideally wanted a hospital exclusively for children but plans changed. “This hospital was requested by someone from Germany who wanted to build a hospital but later they developed financial problems and had to pull out. It was then when the doctors came in and decided to continue to build a hospital,” explained Pohamba. Pohamba, through her Trust, holds a 6% share in the hospital, with Demushuwa Property Developers owning 60.3% and a group of doctors the remaining 32% of shares. The financing of the project was provided by Bank Windhoek. Pohamba believes that the new hospital with its state-of-the-art facilities will promote the standard of medical facilities in the country. Meanwhile, a cardiac facility is expected to be constructed at a cost of N$130 million and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. According to the managing director of Demushuwa Property Developers, Desmond Howard, their dream to perform the first heart transplant in Namibia may soon be realised. “We have the doctors and once the cardiac facility is complete we will surely have the infrastructure,” he said. He added that the fundamental difference between the LPPH and other private hospitals is that it will be medically driven, which gives doctors a lot of say in its operations. “It is locally owned and the salaries of the nurses have increased,” he added. The luxurious hospital, which opened to the public on Sunday, boasts with 360 nurses, 134 beds and 22 doctors as stakeholders. According to Howard they already have one fulltime doctor for the emergency unit but are still looking for a second trauma surgeon. The hospital also has a lecture room for student doctors from the University of Namibia (Unam) School of Medicine. The official opening is scheduled for next month. JEMIMA BEUKES