Nasrec Field Hospital decommissioned: No ‘scientific’ reasons to keep it
Nasrec Field Hospital decommissioned: No ‘scientific’ reasons to keep it
The Gauteng Provincial Government will close and decommission the Nasrec Field Hospital at the end of February 2021. This is due to the expansion of the public healthcare system that has seen 4 265 functional beds being added.
Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, on Thursday 25 February 2021, said there is no longer any scientific, statistical, or clinical reasons to keep the facility open.
Mokgethi said the department has always been guided by science through the modelling team and projections from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“The closure of Nasrec Field Hospital will not have a major impact in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Gauteng Department of Health now has the capacity to operationalize 4 265 functional beds through its hospital infrastructure should the need arise,” said Mokgethi.
“Bed overload within hospital clusters will be managed through internal transfers between hospitals to relieve areas of shortage within clusters,” added Mokgethi.
ENSURING VALUE FOR MONEY
To ensure value for money, some of the materials and equipment from the Nasrec Field Hospital will be repurposed and used in other healthcare facilities.
The Nasrec Field hospital was initially secured in April 2020 as a 500-bed isolation and quarantine site to accommodate members of the public who could not self-isolate or quarantine at home.
“The facility was later extended to include 1 000 beds to accommodate Priority 3 patients informed by projected infection peak in numbers anticipated for August 2020 emerging from modelling exercises at the time. Later on the bed capacity was reduced by 500, while making options for re-scaling should a surge be realized. The bed capacity was reduced to 1 000 beds,” the department said.
Since opening, 1 658 patients were admitted at the Nasrec Field Hospital, broken into the following categories;
1254 for isolation;
117 were admitted for quarantine; and
287 Priority 3 patients to date.a