THE Chitungwiza Central Hospital has been assessed by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (Saz) and retained its ISO 9001:2000 certificate.
I would like to thank the hospital staff in working tirelessly to achieve our goal and have shown a high level of commitment and a remarkable team spirit as we worked through the ISO process. This was not a one-day achievement, but a continuous process, as we implement the ISO procedure to our work.
The hospital has played host to several top government officials, ranging from permanent secretaries, deputy ministers, vice-chancellors, ambassadors, ministers, vice-presidents, presidents both local and foreign.
The hospital has continued to receive tremendous support from the corporate world, churches, local business community, individuals and several international donor organisations. Donations were in cash and kind. Sungura and gospel musicians have in the last few years supported the Central Hospital by staging very successful fundraising shows to assist in the running of the hospital. We have also received support from some foreign-based reggae icons.
Diabetes Diabetes is a condition that many people do not understand. If anything, it is one medical condition that a lot of people normally want to associate with witchcraft and yet it is just like any other health condition that needs to be managed.
Chitungwiza Central Hospital is taking a positive role in conscientising people on diabetes. This is after it realised that a lot of people did not have information on the disease and often neglected their sick relatives. The hospital recently held a diabetes awareness campaign, which was attended by thousands of people from the Chitungwiza community and beyond.
Most people who attended showed a keen interest in learning more about the condition, judging by the nature of questions that were asked. The chief executive officer, Obadiah Moyo, appealed to the government to continue supporting diabetes associations, clinics and hospitals to enable them to expand their educational programmes. In support of this noble cause, the hospital has a special diabetes desk in the outpatients department.
Music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi, who attended the awareness campaign, urged people with the condition to urgently seek medical assistance. He also appealed to doctors and care givers to simplify the language used when carrying out diabetes outreach programmes. Sally Mugabe Renal training institutes A state-of-the-art renal unit named after the late first lady Mai Sally Mugabe was officially opened by President Robert Mugabe at the hospital, who is also the patron of the Zimbabwe kidney foundation. Senior government officials, service chiefs and Miss Universe Zimbabwe, Lisa Morgan, attended this historic event at the hospital. Its mandate is to train specialists in the renal unit and treat patients with this ailment. The equipment in this Sally Mugabe Renal Unit is the best in the country. It is one of the most successful stories the hospital is proud of.
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The laboratory — centre for diagnostic excellence Since attaining ISO certification, Chitungwiza Central Hospital has not rested; instead it sought to do a lot more to improve operations at the hospital.
The Chitungwiza Central Hospital Laboratory has become the centre for diagnostic excellence and constitutes Biochemistry, Haematology, Bacteriology, Parasitology, Immunohaemalogy, and Serology divisions. The hospital receives specimens from Chitungwiza urban, surrounding rural communities and the country at large.
The world over it is known that medical laboratories are vital for operation of health institutions. This is so because laboratory results provide the only scientific approach to patient management, allowing the clinical to make the accurate diagnosis and rationalise drug use. The hospital has kept abreast with international trends by continuously improving and upgrading on its laboratory equipment.
In line with the laboratory’s role in beefing up manpower in the country laboratories, Chitungwiza Central Hospital is also a centre for training of State Certified Medical Laboratory Technicians (SCMLT). It is one of the internship points for the University of Zimbabwe Medical Laboratory Science undergraduate. The sky is the limit in our laboratory.
Chitungwiza Central Hospital graduation ceremonies The private sector should engage government in providing healthcare services. This was the message that was echoed by Vice President Joice Mujuru at a graduation ceremony in 2010. Mujuru called on the private sector to partner the government in dealing with the brain drain and the illegal sanctions imposed on the country.
She urged the business sector to expand their operations and look beyond their growth and profit margins and therefore called upon the business community to expand their operations through public private partnership.
Mujuru urged the graduates to keep improving their professional skills and further their careers. She went on to say that government’s focus was to improve the nurse-to- patient ratio in the country. Obadiah Moyo hailed government for prioritising health and education. A qualification once gained will never be sufficient for a lifetime.
Training, retraining and updating will become increasingly necessary. In all aspects of endeavour, lifelong learning is necessary. More than 60 general nurses, 34 midwives and 71 state certified medical laboratory technicians graduated in 2010 and in 2011; 75 general nurses and 60 midwives qualified.
Chitungwiza Central Hospital has over the years trained more than 1450 midwives, general nurses and state certified medical laboratory technicians since it started training medical personnel.
