W Cape Health spells out future of Tygerberg Hospital

COSTLY FIX: Tygerberg Hospital

COSTLY FIX: Tygerberg Hospital

Published Jun 8, 2018

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Cape Town - In response to a Cape Argus article about the replacement of Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town's largest government hospital, the Western Cape Health Department has shed light on the future of the hospital.

The hospital has undergone continued maintenance work, and the repair work is set to continue, the health department said. 

ALSO READ: Tygerberg Hospital must 'be shut down and replaced'

"Western Cape Government Health would like to clarify that under no circumstances is Tygerberg Hospital closing," the department's Mark van der Heever said. 

 

"Thousands of patients and 4000 staff rely on this hospital, including prospective doctors, nurses and a number of health workers who are trained on the premises. This is evident in that Tygerberg Hospital admitted 66 200 patients and treated 309 816 outpatients during 2017/18. The Hospital is a strategic and crucial part in our health system and is earmarked for replacement not closure," he said.

"Since Tygerberg Hospital is currently functioning as a Tertiary (and academic) hospital and a regional hospital, replacing it will require two projects: the new Tygerberg Central Hospital and the new Tygerberg Regional Hospital. The replacement process has two processes which run concurrently: one long term and another shorter term."

He said there were long term and short term processes that need to be followed.

The hospital is due to be replaced, but this was a "mega project" that needed the buy-in of the national government. 

"The new Tygerberg Central Hospital is a mega project in conjunction with the National Department of Health (NDoH). As pointed out by previously, the Head of Department is interfacing with National Treasury and NDoH for funding. Due to it being a mega-project, we hope to have jumped through all the loops to commence with design and building phases in 2023.

"The new Tygerberg Regional hospital Business Case was submitted to the NDoH for approval."

In the short term, however, maintenance work on the existing hospital would continue. 

"While we are still operating the current hospital infrastructure of Tygerberg, we need to maintain it in the best possible condition. Recent maintenance projects include the replacement of water and fire reticulation, work on the sewer system, mechanical work on various systems, lift upgrades and theatre upgrades. The Department is mindful of the financial burden of high cost maintenance. 

"However, this needs to be continued while we work in tandem with our National colleagues, to ensure a long term replacement of the old infrastructure," he said.

@TheCapeArgus

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