The number of hospitals exempted from load reduction across the country has increased from 37 to 72 since the last public announcement by Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla in September.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said it is making more efforts to urgently implement exemptions for medical facilities in the North Cape and the Northwest, in line with its commitment to ensure that no province is left behind. behind.
According to the ministry’s updated list on Thursday, 17 hospitals are located in Gauteng, 15 hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, 14 hospitals in the Free State, 10 hospitals in Limpopo, seven hospitals in the Eastern Cape and four hospitals. institutes in Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
Meanwhile, only one hospital is exempt in the North Cape, while no hospital in the North West is excluded from the offload.
However, the ministry said the research team led by the Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Dr Sandile Buthelezi and the Director of Distribution of the Eskom Group, Monde Bala, is currently working closely with the authorities of the two provinces to come up with a proposal. an alternative in the short and medium term. .
The plan, according to the ministry, would see public health facilities such as New Bophelong Psychiatric Hospital, Bophelong Hospital, Taung Hospital, Ganyesa Hospital, Moses Kotane Hospital and Tshwaragano hospital, without power cuts.
“This is despite the technical challenges faced, including the current electrical configuration of the network in most areas where some hospitals are deeply embedded in the network, making it difficult to isolate them right away. instantly.”
However, the team is working on the possibility of offloading large hospitals, as well as other alternatives.
According to the ministry, the exercise is part of the government’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the power outage on the delivery of essential health services across the country.
The department said it provided the public institution with 212 priority hospitals across the country to be considered for possible exclusion from the phased approach, of which 67% were provided directly by the cities, while Eskom provided the remaining 33%. .
“Preliminary network analysis shows that 28 hospitals in different provinces can be eliminated from overcrowding by building new infrastructure at an estimated cost of Rs 100 million.”
