80 Albert Street Clinic closes its doors

THE health clinic at 80 Albert Street will be shutting down soon because it poses a number of environmental health hazards.

This announcement comes after councillor Mpho Phalatse, member of the mayoral committee for health and social development, tabled a detailed report to the committee on the dangers of the clinic.

The bad condition of the clinic is particularly harmful to patients with chronic diseases.

Services will be relocated to nearby health facilities to ensure primary healthcare services continue.

Phalatse said: “The decision comes following an assessment by the city’s environmental health inspectors, who declared the building in which the clinic is housed a bad building.

“The environmental health practitioners have been reporting about the untenable environmental health hazards that have been developing over time in and around the health facility. The current conditions in the clinic are clearly in contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety as well as the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), as well as the Labour Relations Act that require our health workers to work in a healthy and conducive environment.”

The other concern is that water is seeping through the walls of the clinic because squatters continue to partition off the top floors of the building and illegally connect to the clinic’s water and electricity systems.

One of the patients said, “This isn’t good news to hear that our clinic will be closing, but honestly it was in a bad state.”

When Phalatse visited to the clinic, she was shocked too see the rapid decline of the building.

“As the custodians of environmental health in the city, we need to lead by example and abide by environmental health standards. Continuing to operate under these circumstances would be a direct violation of even the city’s ‘service with pride’ mantra. This closure will enable us to do the right thing and give our residents the kind of service they deserve,” said Phalatse.

A committee has been established to manage the closure and transfer of patients, staff, as well as patients’ records to Jeppe, Esselen and Rosettenville clinics, which are within a 5km radius of 80 Albert Street Clinic.

Phalatse said closing down the clinic should be understood in the context of saving lives and providing quality healthcare.

Ward 124 councillor Mongameli Mnyameni claimed he wasn’t told by the City about this major decision.

“As a ward councillor, I feel I was supposed to be told about this so that I could inform residents. I’m the one who was pushing for this clinic to be looked into after receiving lots of complaints from residents about its condition,” said Mnyameni.

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