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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior health Reporter
BULAWAYO Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube has hailed the Second Republic`s engagement and re-engagement drive which has resulted in the construction of a state-of-the-art health centre in Cowdray Park suburb and the refurbishment of doctors’ residences at Mpilo Central Hospital.

Both projects were completed in record time and await commissioning.

The minister was speaking after touring both health facilities together with Joint Monitoring Command (Jomic) members.

Cowdray Park Health Centre was built through the support of British company NMS Infrastructure Limited and the construction of the 20-bed facility started in May this year.

Cowdray Park Health Centre is also equipped with state-of-the-art equipment as part of Government’s efforts to improve access to health.

The clinic is part of the 30 health facilities being constructed by the Government through a US$200 million loan facility from NMS.

When it starts operating, it is expected to service the city’s most populous suburb – Cowdray Park – while relieving pressure on Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals, which are referral hospitals for southern parts of the country.

The clinic has medical staff quarters to accommodate families of four health workers and runs on solar power.

In May last year, a fire that gutted the doctors’ accommodation facilities at Mpilo left 39 healthcare workers homeless without clothes and national documents.

Following the series of fire incidents, Government resolved to also have the nurses’ home renovated as it was in a dilapidated state.

Treasury also released funds for the construction of a housing flat for doctors which was planned in 2002, but had not taken off.

Government resolved to renovate three apartment buildings housing doctors at the referral hospital after a series of fires that occurred at the hospital in 2018, 2019 and last year.

While the renovations included a lot of brickwork, Government installed solar lights, water tanks and there is now parking space for doctors.

A total of $550 million was injected towards the Mpilo project which saw the renovation of the White House, Main DQ building, the nurses’ residence and the construction of a three-floor block of flats which is halfway towards completion.

All rooms are tiled and have new cabinets, toilets and kitchen sets.

The nurses’ residence which was also part of the refurbishment is now a far cry from the dilapidated state it was before Government’s intervention.

“We are happy, this is a job well done for Bulawayo and we are so grateful to the President and Minister of Health for such a marvelous effort. This polyclinic in Cowdray Park will boost our healthcare services in Bulawayo and de-congest our central hospitals while offering Cowdray Park quality services,” said Minister Ncube.

“The equipment is top notch and we are happy that our residents will be able to access such from Cowdray Park which for the longest time had no designated clinic despite being the biggest suburb.”

After touring the clinic, Minister Ncube headed to Mpilo Central Hospital where she also appreciated the progress that has been made in refurbishing the destroyed building.

“I am happy to be seeing a new building here, the renovation is top-notch and totally different from what we saw when we took a tour after the fire incident last year. We are happy for our medical personnel indeed the Government has gone an extra mile to rebuild their residences and also modernise their units,” said Minister Ncube.

“The Second Republic continues to create a conducive environment for our healthcare workers and this will benefit Bulawayo as we are guaranteed quality services. I also call on the corporate world to partner with the Government and help us equip our hospitals with needed machinery so that we continue providing services.”
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