As part of its Field Hospital Legacy project, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has supported the critical offerings of several local clinics, hospitals, and other institutions, by donating containers and other equipment from the decommissioned Rev. Dr Elizabeth Mamisa Chabula-Nxiweni Field Hospital.
The Field Hospital, which opened in June 2020 to support healthcare efforts with 1 485 beds during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, was decommissioned when the facility was no longer critical to the fight against the pandemic.
“To VWSA, this is a legacy project which we hope will bring relief to the constrained health institutions that care for our communities,” said Manfred Gie, Strategic Plant Development Manager and project lead on VWSA’s Covid-19 response.
“The Eastern Cape Department of Health thanks VWSA for their valued and substantive contribution towards the fight against Covid-19 through establishing a field hospital within Gqeberha,” said Darlene de Vos, Nelson Mandela Bay district manager for the Eastern Cape Department of Health.
Following the decommissioning process, the decision was made to repurpose and re-install 11 containerised ablution facilities to the benefit of local clinics and hospitals.
The beneficiaries included:
- Uitenhage Provincial Hospital: Three containers are now used for male and female ablutions in Casualty, as well as a supplementary ablution facility for staff.
- Dora Nginza Hospital: Three containers for public ablutions.
- West End Clinic: Two containers for public ablutions.
- Laetitia Bam Clinic: One container for public ablutions.
- Motherwell CHC: Receiving two containers for public ablutions.
Aside from preparing these containers and reconnecting services such as electricity, water and drainage, the containers were also repainted, and new signage applied. Further work included replacing a part of the damaged boundary fence at the West End Clinic and providing connections to the existing structures at Dora Nginza Hospital.
Additionally, Uitenhage Provincial Hospital and Dora Nginza Hospital were among the recipients of beds and bedside lockers that were originally purchased for the Field Hospital. These donations included:
- 800 medical beds, 280 wooden beds and 1 959 bedside lockers donated to eight Department of Health facilities across the Eastern Cape
- 302 wooden beds and 170 bedside lockers donated to 15 Old Age Homes in Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City Metro
- 902 wooden beds and 383 bedside lockers donated to 15 Child and Youth Care centres in Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City Metro
Funding for the container project came from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, with VWSA supporting in terms of project management. The GIZ was also a key partner in the establishment of the Field Hospital at VWSA’s former Gqeberha plant in Neave.
