If the Eastern Cape health department intended to downgrade Cathcart Hospital, the plan has been put on hold.There was an often-violent weeklong community protest after people were informed on February 9 of the intention to downgrade the hospital, with the department citing low bed occupancy.
Children in the Eastern Cape are starving. So acute is the problem that desperate residents have begged the country’s president and the province’s premier to intervene.On Wednesday, health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth’s spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase, said that between April 2021 and September 2023 about 3,070 Eastern Cape children were treated for acute malnutrition and 1,314 were admitted to hospital for acute malnutrition.
The Eastern Cape health department has sung the praises of a church which donated R3m for the renovation of Cecilia Makiwane Hospital’s mental health unit and staff wellness centre.
After being plagued by admission irregularities and bribery claims for years, health minister Dr Joe Phaahla has been urged to investigate the intake at Lilitha Nursing College after the process stoked fresh controversy. This comes after allegations that the college has sidelined relevant stakeholders, including labour unions, while the provincial health department reportedly failed to address critical issues brought to its attention.