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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
ACTING President Constantino Chiwenga is expected to commission the Gweru Provincial Hospital (GPH) Centre of Excellence today in a major milestone set to improve health services at the facility.

Following this positive development, GPH is going to have a separate Opportunistic Infections (OI) centre for effective HIV treatment and care.

The completion of the US$200 000 facility follows yet another milestone by the hospital after the opening of a multi-million-dollar modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in August 2020.

The new facility has a One Stop Shop with consultation rooms and a built-in pharmacy where patients will get all the services under one roof. The construction of the COE was funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

AHF Zimbabwe is supporting the Ministry of Health and Child Care in establishing COEs across the country.

Its main purpose is to provide quality and affordable health services to people Living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA).

In an interview yesterday, Secretary for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mr Abiot Maronge confirmed the coming of the acting President Chiwenga who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care.

“The acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga is expected to officially commission the Gweru Provincial Hospital Centre of Excellence tomorrow morning,” he said late last night.

GPH matron Mrs Charity Garwe commended the setting up of the centre of excellence at the health institution.

“The GPH US$200 000 Centre of Excellence is ready for commissioning after the completion of construction works and furnishing, in a major milestone set to improve health services at the facility. This is a huge initiative as we work towards addressing issues of HIV and AIDS at this institution. Our patients used to get such facilities at the casualty and this did not provide them with the necessary facilities needed to address such conditions,” she said.

Mrs Garwe said there is also a need to do away with stigmatisation of PLWHA.

“In setting up this facility we are trying to deal with issues of stigmatisation as people will get professional help in a friendly environment away from the other patients,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mrs Garwe said the GPH’s state of the art ICU is providing the best service as it is being run by well-trained personnel.

“Well I am very pleased to highlight that everything at this institution is up to the expected standards. Our ICU is one of the best in the country as it has the requisite expertise,” she said.