President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital in KZN on Friday, 24 November.
The newly built 500-bed facility provides 24-hour services that include paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, psychiatry and mental health, anaesthetics and radiology.
Patients also have access to a burn unit, high care, an intensive care unit, trauma and emergency services.
The hospital receives referrals from district hospitals across Durban.
The hospital also serves more than 1,5 million residents from areas such as Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, Phoenix and surrounding areas, and it eases the service provision burden on neighbouring healthcare facilities in eThekwini.
The hospital is named after Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme, one of the founders of the ANC who was born in Inanda.
Ramaphosa did a walkabout at the hospital after he officially opened it.
The president unveiled a statue of Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme as part of the official opening.
He appealed to residents to take care of the hospital.
“Treat this hospital as your own. It must never be vandalised. No one must steal money from this hospital,” Ramaphosa said.
He thanked Dr Zweli Mkhize and said this was his idea when he was the Health MEC in KZN.
Ramaphosa said they also honour Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme.
“The statue we opened is of Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme. I want people who come here to see who he is.”
He said that 1 500 people have been employed at the hospital.
Resident Thandeka Dlamini (45), who was at the opening ceremony, said she’s grateful that the hospital has been officially opened.
“But we would appreciate it if people who applied for the jobs at this hospital got employed. Unemployed people living in this area should benefit. I heard that already the people who are currently working are not from nearby areas. That should be addressed,” she said.
Another resident, Thabani Ntombela (33), said all his friends who applied for jobs at the hospital were not hired.
“It’s unfair. I came here to see the opening but none of our unemployed brothers and sisters were hired at this hospital,” he said.
-daily sun
In other news – Thuli Phongolo under serious fire after video of her cheating emerges – WATCH
Popular South African actress and DJ, Thuli Phongolo gets dragged after a video of her performing at a recent gig surfaced on social media.
In the video, Thuli P and her partner Slenda Da Dancing DJ were playing their set to the crowd, however, it was observed that another equipment was placed beneath the desk, and it was operated by another man. Many presumed that it was the man that was playing the sounds, Read More