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Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Zimplats has given Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital $90 000 to upgrade and equip the hospital’s dental and laundry departments. Owing to the critical situation at the dental department, the hospital’s three dentists have since been seconded to other hospitals.

The department has been operating without functional chairs and basic dental equipment for sometime. Laundry services have been severely affected as there is no laundry machine, drier and ironer.

As a result, the hospital has been outsourcing the services at a huge cost and raising the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Speaking at the hospital’s School of Nursing 17th graduation ceremony on Friday, Zimplats managing director Mr Stanley Segula said the platinum giants decided to intervene owing to the dire situation.

“We appreciate that adequate clean linen is the hallmark of infection-free surgical procedures and goes a long way in reducing hospital-acquired infections,” said Mr Segula.

“We shall evaluate the extent to which we can intervene. We shall continue to dialogue with management and prioritise our efforts for the benefit of this hospital and indeed the people of Mashonaland West.”

Mr Segula said his company would commit $70 000 towards the purchase of dental chairs and a further $20 000 to buy a dryer for the laundry department. The intervention will help in improving the quality of care for patients.

Mr Segula urged the hospital to continue looking for partnerships that would help drive the institution and the health sector to world-class standards.

The hospital board, through chairperson Mrs Matilda Jairos and management led by medical superintendent Dr Collett Mawire, made a proposal for help to Zimplats. After getting the proposal, Zimplats sent its health executive on a fact-finding mission.

The findings confirmed the dire situation in the hospital’s two departments. Dr Mawire said the dental and laundry departments needed urgent revitalisation.

He said through partnerships, the hospital had been able to overcome most of the challenges they were facing and also moved to provide services such as fistula repairs, CT scans and laparoscopic surgery.