11 Mar 2019

South East District councillors have expressed concern over reports of poor service and shortage of doctors at Bamalete Lutheran Hospital (BLH).    

Councillors argued that shortage of doctors at the hospital might have contributed to loss of life.

They said this during a full council meeting recently.

They also said they were aware of allegations that government planned to take over BLH, but that there was no official statement regarding the issue.

Council chairperson and BLH board chairperson, Mr Phenyo Segokgo allayed the councillor’s fears, saying the allegations were not true.

He said while it was true that the hospital was short of doctors, it was not related to the number of deaths at the hospital. 

Mr Segokgo pointed out that the hospital was currently on a drive to fill vacant posts at the hospital.

Furthermore, Mr Segokgo refuted allegations that government intended to take over the administration of the hospital.

He  said negotiations about the takeover of the hospital were ongoing, but that nothing tangible has surfaced yet.

He stated that the hospital, which had been an outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission (ELM) in Germany, was still negotiating its future as ELM wanted to localise it.

Mr Segokgo said the Lutheran Mission was willing to handover the hospital management to either government, churches or non-government organisations. 

Regarding allegations on the expulsion of the chief executive officer, Mr Segokgo said the officer had not been fired.

However, he stated that following the forensic audit, they were in negotiations with the involved parties to map the way forward based on the audit outcome.

He said the audit recommended the review of hospital policies and structure, and that the board of directors lacked the necessary competencies.

Councillors appealed to Mr Segokgo to tame his board members who were peddling misinformation about the hospital. ENDS