Cape Town - National Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaala’s office said, while they were working to ensure that all hospitals were exempted from load shedding, they were making sure that provincial budgets stretched far and wide to meet the capacity of fuel and to keep the lights burning.
Eskom said engagements were ongoing
A total of 200 Healthcare facilities in the province have not been exempted but are using generators which are footing bills as high as R12 million.
This was revealed by Dr Keith Cloete, Head of the Western Cape Department of Health, who engaged via a digicon with Premier, Alan Winde, regarding the energy crisis.
But Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the National Health Department said budgets were being made available in the crisis.
“The department working with provinces will ensure that all hospitals which are yet to be exempted from load shedding are supported with enough budget to keep the lights on by procuring fuel and keeping generators maintained,” he said.
“It is true that discussions with Eskom to exempt health facilities are ongoing and we are aware of the challenges to fast track the exemptions.”
Provincially 10 hospitals are exempted, which include, George Hospital, Groote Schuur Hospital, Karl Bremer Hospital, Mitchells Plain Hospital, Mowbray Maternity Hospital, New Somerset Hospital, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Tygerberg Hospital, Victoria Hospital,Wesfleur Hospital.
Cloete said between April 1 and June 30, their budgets stretched far, covering the R12 million for diesel and in June alone, they forked out an additional R5 million for diesel which they had not budgeted for.
“While the money being spent on mitigating the impacts of load shedding could have been used elsewhere, we cannot allow patients to suffer the consequences when seeking healthcare services,” he added.
“This once again is an indication of how the Western Cape is going above and beyond its mandate.”
He added that the department was in discussions with Eskom to install a dedicated feeder for the Khayelitsha District Hospital, at a cost of R1.5 million to have that facility exempted from power cuts.
He said future plans are the installation of solar photovoltaic embedded generators at 15 hospitals for a combined total peak generation of 5MW.
Uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems have been installed to keep services operational during blackout for life support medical equipment, operating theatres and EMS call centers
The department is also planning to supply 138 clinics with inverters and lithium batteries to provide essential power supply during load shedding.
In May, Dr Phaala said hospitals must be exempted from load shedding.
Premier Alan Winder said seeking solutions did take time.
“Fixing the energy problem is not just about flicking a switch. It is a long-term investment,” he said.
“This takes time and unfortunately it will be tough.”
Dr Cloete explained that power outages impair the capacity to adequately provide an array of health services, affecting medical equipment, computers, digital records, cold storage as well as telecommunications and the morale of staff.
Eskom’s media desk told Weekend Argus that engagements between Eskom and the Department of Health are still on-going.
“Various options have been presented to the Department of Health and are being considered,” they said.