The 250-bed Lupane Provincial Hospital, which will improve health care delivery in Matabeleland North, is taking shape. The key stakeholders are confident that huge progress will have been made toward completion by the end of the year.
The government budgeted $47 million last year for the construction of a hospital. The hospital is expected to better the provision of healthcare services in Matabeleland North. Matabeleland North is said to be the only province lacking a provincial hospital and was identified as a priority project.
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The new facility is expected to ease the strain on Bulawayo’s Mpilo Central Hospital. The hospital receives patients who are in critical condition from the province.
Why the construction of the hospital had stopped
The Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa quickened the construction of the hospital after it had stopped for years due to a lack of funding. Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, last year said that the hospital’s completion was at the top of the government’s priorities.
While the surgical ward, pediatric, antenatal, and maternity sections are all in different stages of construction, the outpatients, admission, and pharmacy blocks are almost complete, with the structures already roofed.
Possible completion dates for the Lupane Provincial Hospital
The government is hopeful that the project will be close to completion by the end of the year. This is according to Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo.
The Minister said that the hospital would change the way health services are delivered in Matabeleland and boost economic growth as a result.
Mr. Donald Mujiri, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Child Care, stated that the construction of Lupane Provincial Hospital was a part of the Second Republic’s plan to fully change the country’s health care sector.
To provide care across all disciplines, he said that Zimbabwe uses primary, secondary, tertiary, and quinary hospitals.
He added that the Ministry of Health and Child Care has made huge progress since 2018 in the development of health infrastructure. The development also includes the construction of new health facilities and the renovation and maintenance of existing ones.
Mr. Mujiri said that the government had already set aside more than $200 million to improve the country’s health infrastructure.
