NW’s General De La Rey Hospital long-overdue upgrades in the pipeline: Motsoaledi
The hospital, constructed in the mid-nineties, was flooded on Sunday night following torrential rains in the province.
FILE: Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - The General De La Rey Hospital in Lichtenburg, North West, is awaiting approval for long-overdue upgrades.
The hospital, constructed in the mid-nineties, was flooded on Sunday night following torrential rains in the province.
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At least 33 patients had to be evacuated and sent to other nearby facilities.
On Tuesday, Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi visited the facility.
Addressing the media from the hospital on Tuesday, Motsoaledi said upgrades for the old and dilapidated building were in the pipeline.
A concept design report published on the South African Heritage Resources Agency website shows a major facelift for the hospital, which will include doubling its capacity from 60 to 120 beds.
Motsoaledi said engineers have been instructed to consider how to upgrade the facility, taking climate change into account.
“They can’t build it like it was many years ago. They must take this issue of climate change into consideration; that one day you might wake up to more rainfall than we have ever had before and that must be built [into] the engineering plans, and that’s why we brought engineers here.”
According to experts, the minister said, the North West has seen more rain in the past days than in the last decade.