Once a medical landmark, now a crumbling legacy
Calls for the decaying old hospital to be converted into a school, rehabilitation centre or housing.
Barely 10km from where President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the new King Nyabela Hospital on August 4, the old Middelburg Hospital is falling into disrepair.
The old provincial hospital was one of the best in the country and also served as a training hospital.
Residents of Middelburg remember with nostalgia how their children and family members were born in the hospital, lives were saved, and excellent doctors provided some of the best medical services.
Decades of medical history
Doctors such as Dr IM Patz, who practised in Middelburg for 54 years and is remembered as a medical pioneer who helped establish the town’s first blood transfusion centre and maternity section; Dr Kobus Terblanche; Dr Gert Bodemer; Dr Francois Raath; Dr John Hofmeyr; Dr Piet van Schalkwyk; Dr Theo Smit; and Dr Joe Alberts catered to thousands of residents for many years.
Some of the younger doctors in town, such as orthopaedist Dr Dewald Tromp, started their careers at Middelburg Hospital.
The Observer published a weekly barometer in the 1980s when money was raised to buy an intensive care unit for the hospital. The amount was approximately R70 000.
But the history of the hospital goes back even further. In 1935, the architect of the Voortrekker Monument, Gerhard Moerdyk, was commissioned to design the hospital. That is why the hospital is more than just an old, dilapidated building.
For years, it was the heartbeat of Middelburg’s medical care.
Call to repurpose decaying site
After the Observer warned three weeks ago that the hospital was a fire hazard because of the long grass around the buildings, the grass was set on fire.
Councillor Elsie Vermooten said she had no idea who set the grass on fire.
Yesterday, the DA’s mayoral candidate, Bosman Grobler, said the new hospital had been opened for the ‘fourth time’.
He called on the MEC for Health, Sasekani Janet Manzini, to take President Ramaphosa to the old hospital.
Grobler suggested that the hospital be used for a school, elderly housing, a rehabilitation centre or for the homeless.
