Africa-Press – Namibia. Hardap region residents who require critical care and life support due to illness or injury will no longer have to be transferred to other hospitals as the Mariental district hospital will soon offer intensive care services.
The announcement was made by health minister Kalumbi Shangula at the handover and commissioning of an oxygen generation plant donated by Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) at Mariental yesterday.
“The ministry identified a gap in ICU provision in many regions. We have decided to close this gap. Mariental hospital will be provided with a 10-bed ICU facility. The team from Windhoek will come to Mariental on 28 September 2021 to discuss with the Hardap regional team and identify the location of the ICU in the hospital,” he said.
He said government is committed to ensuring that frontline workers are equipped and have at their disposal the tools of the trade to do their work at all times, which is why it has expended substantial resources to repurpose units within existing health facilities and built prefabricated isolation structures within the perimeters of hospitals countrywide, to expand the capacity of the health sector to withstand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He further stated, in addition to the efforts and investments by the government, the private sector has proven ready and willing to support the Covid-19 response in various ways by donating personal protective equipment, high tech medical equipment such as ventilators and oxygen concentrators, patient monitors and hospital beds.
“This morning we are witnessing the handover and commissioning of an oxygen generating plant here at Mariental district hospital. The plant has a capacity to produce up to 500 litres of oxygen per minute, with purity levels going up to 96%. Oxygen therapy is one of the critical interventions in the treatment of respiratory distress, which is also a symptom of Covid-19 infection. This oxygen generating system will therefore ensure that the hospital has the necessary capacity to supply medical oxygen for those in need,” Kalumbi said. According to the CEO of Namdia Kennedy Hamutenya, the oxygen generation plant is part of over N$7.6 million in donations made to the health ministry.
