HARARE - The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s biggest referral hospital, has been temporarily closed for maintenance work on ventilators.
Ventilators support breathing of patients on life support systems.
This development has forced those needing ventilators to seek services from Harare Central Hospital near Southerton or resort to private medical institutions which are beyond the reach of many cash-strapped Zimbabweans.
Paul Chimedza, deputy minister of Health and Child Care, confirmed to the Daily News that 15 ventilators at the public hospital had been compromised owing to a technical fault.
“They are in the process of fixing them and right now they probably will not take major cases which need ventilation.
“In the meantime, patients are being referred to Harare Hospital,” he said.
The deputy minister, however, said the temporary closure of the ICU was not a crisis because there were currently no patients requiring ventilation.
“When you get into ICU, you are seriously ill and usually one bed is reserved in the unit for patients who would have undergone surgery,” Chimedza said.
The hospital was not admitting serious cases in the ICU because the oxygen pipes used in the unit were not working.
“The oxygen pipes are oily and need to be cleaned but this will take between one to two weeks,” a hospital official who preferred anonymity said.
“The only patients we are admitting in ICU are those who just need close monitoring but those who need to be put on oxygen are being referred elsewhere.”