Health Minister praises evacuation efforts during Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire

By Kaya 959 News

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has praised the sterling efforts by rescue teams who managed to evacuate patients and staff from the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital following a massive blaze at the state facility at the weekend.

Mkhize visited the site on Tuesday where he assessed the extent of the damage caused by the fire.

Mkhize also shed light on the department’s recovery plan.

“It is distressing to see so much infrastructure destroyed but my biggest worry was the patient as the biggest problem is carbon monoxide poisoning from smoke inhalation,” Mkhize said.

He said he wanted to show his support and convey his gratitude to everyone who participated.

“To move so many patients within a short space of time and I am happy all of you are safe. We do need to appreciate the risks of stocking high volumes of alcohol-containing sanitiser and PPE- we have never had to stock so much before in facilities,” he said.

“But it really is a good news story that not one life was lost or injured and I highly commend the swift action taken,” Mkhize added.

Plans in place to avoid service disruptions

Meanwhile, management at the hospital has put various measures in place to ensure patients still receive the best care, with minimal disruptions to service delivery.

According to the Gauteng Health Department, all planned caesarean surgeries and all those who need urgent operations at the CMJAH should go to Discoverers Community Healthcare Centre a day before they are scheduled for admission.

The clinic is located at number 39 Clarendon Drive, Discovery, Florida, in the west of Johannesburg. All antenatal services will be offered at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.

“All patients booked for gynaecological surgery will be contacted for new appointments, which will now be done at South Rand Hospital by CMJAH medics. Gynaecological clinic services will also be provided at South Rand Hospital. All booked patients will be contacted and given new dates,” the department said.

Furthermore, patients that were transferred from the CMJAH following the fire are being properly accommodated at other hospitals in the province.

Families informed

The department said the process to inform families where their loved ones have been transferred commenced on Saturday and is still underway.”We thank the people of Gauteng for their patience during this period. The department will communicate more information as and when it becomes available,”the department said.

The Gauteng provincial government has activated a hotline to deal with public enquiries, regarding chronic medication, various surgeries, gynae clinic etc as well as families checking up on loved ones who were admitted at the hospital.

On Friday morning, a fire broke out at the hospital’s special dispensary stores but according to City of Joburg EMS, the fire was extinguished. Just before midnight on the same day, the fire had reignited.

READ: Union not surprised by Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire

The DA’s spokesperson on Health in Gauteng, Jack Bloom, said this was the fourth hospital fire in Gauteng in the last six years.

“The Department has estimated that it would cost about R6 billion to ensure compliance for all 32 public hospitals in Gauteng. This included R394 million to fix CMJH, but little of this has been budgeted.

“Years of poor spending on maintenance has led to the parlous state of our hospitals which risks the lives of patients and staff. I estimate that the cost to fix CMJH after the fire may well be close to R1 billion,” Bloom said.

Written by: Tamlyn

Charlotte Maxeke Hospital Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire Dr Zweli Mkhize