How Clairwood hospital has been revamped for Covid-19

MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, today unveiled the isolation and quarantine facilities which have been constructed at the Clairwood Hospital. Pictures: Supplied

MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, today unveiled the isolation and quarantine facilities which have been constructed at the Clairwood Hospital. Pictures: Supplied

Published Jun 3, 2020

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Durban - THE CLAIRWOOD Hospital has been transformed into a Covid-19 quarantine and isolation site, providing jobs in the process.

The hospital will enable 154 patients to be isolated and about 40 to be quarantined, said Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu at an unveiling ceremony on Tuesday.

She said the Covid-19 facility was refurbished in just two months.

“It also has technological advancements. The doors are programmed to only permit entry for people with an appropriate temperature and those wearing a mask. It has a wash bay to sanitise ambulances immediately after dropping off Covid-19 patients,” she said.

The hospital, a 275-bed site, is the latest addition to the province’s quarantine and isolation centres.

Simelane-Zulu said they had invested in field hospitals in several venues. These include the Pietermaritzburg Royal Show Grounds and the Durban Exhibition Centre.

“Renovating our own facilities was important. Our facilities will be useful even after the pandemic.

“We also want to make sure that our facilities meet the National Health Insurance (NHI) requirements so that they can be accredited,” she said.

Simelane-Zulu added that the recruitment of various categories

of employees who will work in

Covid-19 wards for the next six months, and possibly beyond, would start soon.

“The department has advertised 4773 posts for professional nurses, enrolled nurses, general orderlies, ward clerks and Intensive Care Unit nurses.

According to the department, Clairwood Hospital, on Higginson Highway, was opened on May 1,1956.

It was originally an army barrack later converted into a hospital.

The community served by the

hospital was from Lamontville, Mobeni, Merebank, Woodlands, Montclair, Woodhaven, Yellowwood Park and Clairwood. It later became a specialised rehabilitation and convalescent hospital.

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