UZ completes section of super-specialist hospital

Tanyaradzwa Rusike

THE University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has completed a section of its super-specialist hospital in Avondale, Harare, which is expected to open its doors to the public by August.

The completed centre, part of the larger hospital complex under development along Mazowe Road, will offer specialised medical services that include eye care, in vitro fertilisation and oral health.

It is presently being fitted with high-tech equipment. The main quinary hospital, situated just outside Harare’s central business district, is still under construction and is expected to be completed within the next year.

On completion, the US$15 million hospital will specialise in offering complex medical care such as oncology (cancer treatment), cardiology (heart health), feto-maternal care (care for mothers and new-borns) and renal care (kidney treatment).Zimbabweans reportedly spend up to US$400 million annually seeking treatment and other health services abroad.

The new facility is expected to significantly reduce such expenses. In an interview with The Sunday Mail, UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo said: “We have a specialist medical centre in Avondale and then the main quinary hospital along Mazowe Road.

“The construction works at the Avondale centre are now complete. Now, we are equipping the facility and in the next two or three months, we hope to have moved some of the equipment we already have to set up the centre so that we begin to pre-run it as we await our own equipment that we are trying to source, leading to the commissioning.”

Prof Mapfumo said completion of the main hospital was delayed by funding constraints.

“We had hoped that the hospital would start functioning early this year, but there were a few technical issues that delayed us,” he said.

“Some of those things are to do with the construction works themselves and paying contractors. At the main construction site, we also suffered delays because of the unavailability of skilled artisans and funding challenges because of currency volatility.

“Now, we are beginning to make good progress. Our first phase will be complete by the end of the year. The first phase, he said, entails development of the main administration block, the outpatient and the oncology building. The area where we will have the cardiology department will be done in the next phase, which will take a further 12 months.

“The shell would have been complete as we anticipated, but the tailoring for the purpose of the building, we continued to get advice that we had to change, so we had to pull down certain spaces about three times or so, which, in terms of the target, we felt drawn back.”

A quinary hospital is a super-specialist health institution that offers the highest specialised healthcare. He said upon completion, the UZ facility will be a major referral hospital in the country.

“A super-specialist hospital is not an ordinary hospital; it is what people look for when they go to India, China and other countries,” said Prof Mapfumo.

“The overall cost of the project is US$15 million. We are funding the project alone and outsourcing here and there.

“This is to demonstrate the new model of Education 5.0 . . .”