Gauteng officials visit Jubilee Distict Hospital to assess building progress

The two were accompanied by the infrastructure and property management MEC Tasneem Motara.

Gauteng health spokesperson Kwara Kekana said the facility consisted of five intensive care units and five high-care units.

“It was built as part of the Gauteng provincial government’s comprehensive health response to Covid-19 to relieve pressure from the main hospital.

“The premier and the two MECs inspected the newly-built 300-bed hospital and were pleased that it was ready ahead of the festive period and the anticipated second surge of Covid-19,” Kekana said.

“The construction on the facility began in June, and was completed in November this year.”

Makhura said Covid-19 has allowed the province to improve its health infrastructure.

“The ABT structure will transform service delivery and ensure that we have better-equipped health facilities in Hammanskraal and surrounding areas to deal with the Covid-19 surge and post-pandemic.

“We want to integrate the old infrastructure with the new one which is part of improving the infrastructure,” said Makhura.

Meanwhile, Mokgethi promised health workers to return to the facility to have further engagements as part of tackling some of the challenges the staff was facing.

“This visit was important as it allowed us to assess the hospital’s readiness for the festive season – a period which sees a high number of trauma and accident cases reported at the facility coming from the nearby N1 freeway, ” said Mokgethi.

She appealed to communities to ensure that they continued to be cautious and practiced social distancing while wearing masks.

“We can never overemphasise the need to remain vigilant at all times by avoiding the three Cs, – closed spaces, crowded spaces, and close contact settings.

“The wearing of masks, physical distancing and regular washing of hands, remain critical in halting the spread of the coronavirus.”