Mokopane Hospital temporarily closed due to infrastructure damage
ICU patients at the hospital have been transferred to the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital and the Mankweng Hospital in the meantime.
MOKOPANE – Infrastructure damage due to heavy thunderstorms have led to a partial temporary closure of the Mokopane Regional Hospital.
The Limpopo Department of Health said the hospital’s electricity supply infrastructure that includes a medium voltage pole and cables were damaged during heavy rains in the area.
Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said the hospital has been forced to run for over 36 hours on a standby generator that ultimately gave in.
“Technicians tried to fix the generator but it only managed to run for few hours before suffering more break downs. Due to the fact that the country is now on Stage 6 load-shedding, the department is unable to reassign generators from other facilities to assist in the meantime since they also need the generators for load-shedding,” a statement read.
Shikwambana said ICU patients have been transferred to the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital and the Mankweng Hospital in the meantime while other patients have been taken to Voortrekker Hospital.
“Those in need of medical assistance are urged to go to the Voortrekker or George Masebe Hospital’s. Eskom technicians and the department’s infrastructure unit are on the ground working around the clock to ensure that this challenge is resolved,” he said.
