Gift of the Givers is set to hand over a new 20-bed Covid-19 isolation facility at Settlers Hospital on Tuesday 15 December. This follows Dr Imtiaz Sooliman’s visit to the hospital on 30 November to assess its requirements. Along with hospitals across the Eastern Cape, Settlers is struggling to meet the needs of a growing number of Covid admissions, as cases surge in the Province.
During their visit to Settlers Hospital, Gift of the Givers was shown the disused former Netcare private wing and undertook to refurbish it to serve as a 20-bed dedicated Covid-19 isolation facility with High Care and oxygen points.
The building team arrived on 5 December and completed the R750k renovation in one week. The official handover takes place Tuesday 15 December at 10am on site. Gift of the Givers will also provide the beds, mattresses, blankets, pillows, linen, fridge, microwave and urn. The casualty department will receive 16 stretchers to accommodate PUIs (patients under investigation) arriving in their numbers.
“The aim of equipping outlying hospitals is to reduce the number of patients being referred to Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, thus taking the strain off the exhausted health care workers in the major centres,” Sooliman said.
In other parts of the Province, Willowmore Hospital has agreed to increase their capacity by another fifteen beds. They have oxygen points. Gift of the Givers will provide the beds and any additional support required.
Marjorie Parkes Hospital in Graaff-Reinet has agreed to make a wing available to cater for 20 Covid-19 patients. Gift of the Givers will provide necessary support.
Gift of the Givers has already set up a 120-bed Covid-19 facility at Bhisho Hospital. Construction teams will be arriving Tuesday 15 December to carry out a R3 million renovation to provide accommodation for medical professionals to live on site, thus increasing staff availability at the facility.
The MOU between Eastern Cape Health, Trauma Net Ambulance and Gift of the Givers is almost ready, having been reviewed by the legal teams. Twenty six paramedics, funded by Gift of the Givers, will provide support to Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth. This in addition to the six nursing staff funded by Gift of the Givers since June.
“Distribution of PPEs, sanitiser, non-contact thermometers, pulse oximeters, scrubs and dexamethasone (steroids) to various hospitals is ongoing,” Dr Sooliman said. “More High Flow Nasal Oxygen machines are being sent to the province to cope with the rising number of oxygen dependent admissions. Consumables for these machines are being stockpiled in advance of companies closing for the year end break.
“A big thank you to the South African public supporting all these initiatives in an endeavour to save lives.”
