George Mukhari and Jubilee 300-bed facilities near completion
”Both the facilities will be used post-Covid and that is why it is a permanent structure and not a field hospital."
Two facilities originally intended for possible Covid-19 patients will now become permanent fixtures at their respective hospitals, according to infrastructure development and property management MEC Tasneem Motara. Motara visited both Dr George Mukhari hospital in Ga-Rankuwa and Jubilee hospital in Temba, Hammankraal on Tuesday, to check the progress made in building the new health facilities.
The new structures each comprised of two 300-bed isolation and high-care facilities, built using so-called “alternative” building technologies. The total cost was expected to be around R250-million for each facility.
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“The structures will be handed over to the department by the contractors in phases,” she said. “We expect the last handover to be at the end of November.”
Building of the structures started in June. “At Jubilee, they will be handing over the first phase this week. At George Mukhari they will be handing over the first phase within two weeks,” said Motara.
The facilities will include nurses’ stations, an admission facility and storerooms. “Both facilities will be used post-Covid and that is why they will be permanent structures and not field hospitals.
“They can be used for whatever the hospitals may need in future, whether it is a trauma theatre or even radiology. All our predictions show that we are likely to get a second Covid-19 wave and, of course, the additional capacity will be able to respond to that and absorb additional pressure.”
She said it would be up to the Department of Health and the hospitals what the structures would be used for after they have been handed over.
“Once we have handed the structures over to the hospitals, they will furnish them with beds and equipment, and they will be ready to be used.”
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