Cape Town - Former and current staff of Mitchells Plain Hospital are expected to gather today in celebration and appreciation, as the facility reaches the 10-year milestone.
As the need for district level and specialist health-care services in the community increased, and people were referred and transferred to other health facilities in the Cape Metro, the hospital was commissioned.
Department of Health and Wellness spokesperson Monique Johnstone said at the time, 10 years ago, that the Mitchells Plain Community Health Centre was one of the busiest clinics providing primary health-care services to the community.
“To cater for the growing community and demand for health-care services, the Western Cape government Health and Wellness opened the Mitchells Plain District Hospital,” Johnstone said.
The new Mitchells Plain Hospital opened in November 2013.
The hospital had started out as a 290-bed facility, which later increased to the current bed capacity of 395 beds. The hospital sees about 30 admissions a day, and on average, its emergency Centre treats 4 500 patients per month.
Currently, 800 staff members are employed at the facility. The programme will see former staff who worked at the facility since its inception share historical accounts, among others.
Some of the more notable events to have taken place was having to evacuate all patients and staff after a fire damaged the hospital’s emergency centre in 2018.
The hospital managed the first mass Covid-19 vaccination centre in the metro in Mitchells Plain.
Specialist emergency medicine physician Dr Katya Evans developed an automated Covid-19 data electronic system to keep track of all Covid-19 cases at the hospital.
Over a single weekend this month, the hospital treated 20 stab wound patients.
Hospital CEO Evan Swart said: “I am proud to be part of a team that is constantly finding innovative ways to improve health-care services, has a good culture, and is building and strengthening relationships with the community for the benefit of improving our services.
“I am looking forward to improving health-care services over the next 10 years and supporting the team in finding ways to decrease the service pressure and burden of disease in the community.”