Johannesburg - Patients at the Dr Malizo Mpehle Memorial Hospital in Tsolo, near Mthatha, had to be relocated to other health centres after the facility was flooded on Sunday, the Eastern Cape health department said.
The water affected the maternity ward, paediatrics ward, operating theatre and casualties, spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said .
He said the relocation of patients was ordered by Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana. Kupelo said no one was injured in the incident and the MEC was on his way to the hospital to assess the damage himself.
"So far four patients who required caesarean section have been referred to the nearby Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha, while seven others, including two children, were relocated to other nearby health facilities," he said.
Kupelo said the department has already contracted a private company to extract the water in the hospital and that experts were expected to arrive to determine the cause of the flooding and make recommendations on how to fix it.
He said from "a layman's point of view" it looked like the drainage system was to blame. Kupelo explained that the hospital was only officially handed over to the community November 19 2009 and the cost amounted to R254m.
"The department intends on taking the matter up with the company that designed the hospital," Kupelo said.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Eastern-Cape-hospital-flooded-20110102
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