Local contractors, Majoboge Construction and BWR Quantity Surveyors, have been awarded P2.2 million for the expansion of facilities in Jwaneng.
The development is a scheme by mining Mogul, Debswana, to expand the Jwaneng Mine Hospital, through its Cut-8 project.
The company recently announced that the project entails an extension of the pharmacy area as well as an upgrade of the out-patient department. Expectations are that the project should be running for only four months.
While other private hospitals are rumoured to be deep in financial troubles, the company said that, due to the Cut-8 project, there has been an influx of people in Jwaneng, and it therefore deemed the expansion as necessary to cater for the increase in demand for medical services.
Cut 8 is a project aimed at removing about 658 million tones of waste material between the year 2010 and 2016.
Ester KanaimbaÔÇôSenai, Debswana’s Group Manager for Public and Corporate Affairs, said that through this project, the mine will generate a further 102 million carats of diamonds for its shareholders, the Government of Botswana and De Beers.
Kanaimba-Senai said that the modifications to the hospital will provide an opportunity to separate the out-patient and the emergency medical care services.
As part of the project, two new consultation rooms and a separate waiting room for patients awaiting medical care have been added. She said that this development allows the current out-patient care to be provided at a separate location, dividing the mine hospital into individual departments.
“The separation of the two services is a fantastic achievement and will allow the hospital better control of health care issues, workflow, patient flow, infection control and even customer service,” said Kanaimba-Senai.
An ambulance transfer Bay also falls under the same project and it is expected to provide privacy when transferring patients from the ambulance into the emergency care department.
Kanaimba-Senai said that the privacy and dignity provided through the improved structure will be appreciated by patients as the previous ambulance transfer was not enclosed and often passers-by would stop to look at the patients being transferred.
“Two dispensing rooms and a waiting area were also added to increase capacity at the Pharmacy. This will assist us to serve more patients better as there is an opportunity to better allocate waiting areas and dispensing rooms,” she said.
