Mitchell’s Plain District Hospital hosted a gala dinner at the Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital Main Hall with staff, community and dignitaries to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.
On Saturday July 22, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Western Cape MEC of Health, Nomafrench Mbombo, Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, and Head of Health, Dr Keith Cloete attended the dinner.
More than 10 years ago, the need for district-level and specialist healthcare services in the community was in demand in Mitchell’s Plain. People were referred and transferred to other healthcare facilities in the Cape Metro. At the time, Mitchell’s Plain Community Health Centre was one of the busiest clinics providing primary healthcare services to the community. To cater to the growing community and demand for healthcare services, the building of the Mitchell’s Plain District Hospital began in 2010 and was opened to patients for the first time in July 2013. It was officially opened in November 2013, (“Serving Mitchell’s Plain for a decade” Plainsman April 18).
“Over the past 10 years, Mitchells Plain District Hospital has been a crucial facility in our metro health services and is one of the busiest hospitals in the Western Cape. Since its inception, it has increased its capacity to 420 beds, is home to 857 staff members and played an important role during the Covid-19 pandemic. I wish to thank all stakeholders who contribute towards this facility’s operations, community stakeholders and healthcare professionals. Most of all, my gratitude is owed to the dedicated staff, for without them this amazing hospital would not be able to continue to deliver services to residents,” said Dr Mbombo.
“The Emergency Centre is one of the busiest in the Cape Metropole, treating approximately 4500 patients per month seeking emergency care relating to interpersonal and gender-based violence, mental health and substance abuse, TB/HIV, chronic illnesses, and malnutrition in adults and children,” said Evan Swart, Chief Executive Office of Mitchell’s Plain District Hospital.
The total number of patients accessing care at the Emergency Centre which includes adults and children has seen a steady growth of more than 30 000 visits a year to approximately 48 000 for the 2022 financial year. Based on the health-related challenges in the community, the service pressures are experienced at the emergency centre, Psychiatric Ward for mental health and surgeries for emergency or trauma-related cases, he said.
“I am proud to be part of a team that is constantly finding innovative ways to improve healthcare 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 healthcare services for the next ten years and supporting the team in finding ways to decrease the service pressure and burden of disease in the community,” he said.
Since the commission of the hospital, the team has managed the first mass Covid-19 vaccination centre in the metro, successfully evacuating all patients when a fire damaged the emergency centre in 2018.
They opened a dedicated Covid-19 ward with partners Gift of the Givers called the Freesia Ward, the medical team at the hospital developed the automated Covid-19 data electronic system to keep track of the Covid-19 cases in the hospital which included patients and staff, improved the backlog of sterilisation operations by partnering with Mediclinic in the province, and successfully treating 20 stab wound patients over one weekend in April 2023, he said.
