The fire in the store’s section at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in April 2021 caused a huge setback in one of the most significant health facilities in South Africa. That very fateful day Gift of the Givers funded private ambulances to move patients from the paediatric ICU to neighbouring hospitals, little realising that the damage was so significant that 25 months later much has yet to be done to repair and refurbish many blocks within the hospital. Gift of the Givers opted to develop a new storage facility.
Fortunately, a disused nurses’ dining room was identified on the premises, and our architects and engineers went to work. Gauteng Health, NDoH, Public Works, CMJAH Management and the DBSA were in awe of our design and approved the plans immediately.
Construction teams went to work adhering to strict protocols, especially regulations related to fire safety which turned out to be a very expensive aspect of the building development, and sixty million rand later a 3000 square metre masterpiece, making it the largest medical stores facility in South Africa, is ready for handover tomorrow, 18 July at 10 am. In attendance Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.
Gift of the Givers health initiatives gained momentum in SA during Covid-19 in 2020. We assisted 210 hospitals nationally including several in Gauteng with PPEs, scrubs, coveralls, surgical gowns, intubation boxes, High Flow Nasal Oxygen and CPAP machines, video laryngoscopes, mobile Covid-19 testing sites and triage tents. We upgraded the NICD building, established boreholes at Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph Hospital with filtration systems, and assisted Tambo Memorial Hospital with the Boksburg tanker explosion (this will be discussed at Gift of the Givers Disaster Conference at the CTICC on 27-28 May).
Gift of the Givers health initiatives in South Africa including catch-up surgery is ongoing.
To contribute towards our interventions visit https://giftofthegivers.org/make-a-difference/
