The Eastern Cape’s most overwhelmed hospitals, beset by a critical shortage of equipment, understaffing and a high number of COVID-19 infections, will be assisted by a military medical team of 75 doctors and nurses deployed to the province.
The troubled hospitals set to receive the much needed relief are Dora Nginza and Livingstone, both in Port Elizabeth; Frere in East London; Nelson Mandela Academic in Mthatha; Frontier hospital in Komani and Tower Psychiatric hospital in Fort Beaufort.
The announcement was made by Eastern Cape Premier, Oscar Mabuyane, last week during one of his weekly COVID-19 press briefings.
“We believe that with their arrival; we will see a surge in the number of people who are recovering from the virus. Our hope to defeat this virus is rejuvenated every day by the valiant fightback of people who continue to recover from this virus in their homes, isolation facilities and in our hospitals.
“We want to thank our health workers for their continued dedication and care for COVID-19 patients,” Mabuyane said.
The medical team, which included 20 medical specialists, arrived in the province days after Mabuyane made a public admission about the overwhelmed health systems of the province and asked President Cyril Ramaphosa for the help of the military health services team.
The struggling hospitals had been faced with staff protests or go-slows due to a high number of infections among staff, as well as a critical shortage of personal protective equipment.
The facilities are situated in four hotspots of the province – Nelson Mandela Metro, Buffalo City Metro, OR Tambo District and Chris Hani District.
City Press reported that doctors and healthcare workers claimed the Eastern Cape healthcare system has collapsed, with patients allegedly lying in corridors at some hospitals.
