Re-modernization of the province’s health facilities on the cards

Khanyisile Mashinini

DID MEC, Jacob Mamabolo and Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramogopa.

In an urge to maintain and protract the life-span of all the hospitals across the province, the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) has come up with a new strategy to preserve the existing hospices infrastructure that will make them stand for the test of time.

This was revealed by DID MEC, Jacob Mamaboloalong with his counterpart, Health MEC, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa.

At the same event, Mamabolo handed over conditional assessments for each of the 33 hospitals in the province to his colleague.

He argued that, the completion of these conditional assessments marks a great breakthrough in ensuring that these facilities meet the needs of the people of the province and health professionals who work in them.

“These studies provide the province with unparalleled insight on the health of all equipment and building in a hospital. This means that government now knows areas of concern so that it can better plan properly for the needs of each facility.

“The study has also played a big role in the adoption of a new, proactive maintenance strategy which seeks to bring the standard of buildings and equipment to a level that meets the needs of the users of these facilities,” he said.

The MECalso stated that the strategy titled ‘Closing the Gap” will help DID and the provincial government strike an important balance between delivering new infrastructure and maintaining existing infrastructure.

“Through the conditional assessment which rates equipment and buildings from level 1 (for extremely neglected facilities) to level 5 (for facilities of high standards), we  are now better placed to plan properly so that we move away from the old tradition of chasing defects,” said Mamabolo.

He added that through the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy government will ensure that it optimises its limited resources by coordinating maintenance so that every intervention contributes to the overall improvement of each facility.

“Guided by the latest health planning standards and practices, DID will work in close coordination with the department of health especially the CEO’s of the facilities on an on-going basis.”

Speaking after receiving the reports Ramokgopa said: “Closing the Gap is not only addressing the maintenance issue, but it is also a cost saving measure. It also empowers our CEO’s to make decisions and act. It essentially makes the CEO accountable to the public,” she said.