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VISIONARY CLIENT OF THE YEAR Western Cape Department of Health – Facility and Infrastructure
Western Cape
Department of Health
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RECOGNITION
The Western Cape Department of Health’s Facility and Infrastructure Covid-19 response programme stood out in terms of the plan, execution methodology and final delivery within tight time and cost constraints, as well as limited internal resources.
The combined Facility and Infrastructure response to the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates the province’s readiness to deal with health needs and provide effective service delivery. In doing so, the department’s visionary and innovative thinking, planning and execution serve as an example to all clients, both public and private, in the delivery of infrastructure for the betterment of society, industry and the country during a pandemic.
The department identified the Covid-19 hotspot areas where urgent infrastructure interventions – such as triage and testing areas, additional medical gas points and additional beds – were required, based on the predicted curve. Triage and testing stations were introduced in both the metro and rural areas in
order to divert possible Covid-19 patients. In some instances, temporary structures were used to provide the quickest response.
Additional intermediate-care beds were identified and provided in line with the anticipated requirements and predictions, namely: • CTICC Hospital of Hope – 862 beds • Brackengate – 338 beds • Harry Comay – conversion of 38 beds and addition of 20 beds • Sonstraal TB Hospital – conversion and extra beds provided a total of 150 Covid-19 beds. The CTICC and Brackengate beds will only be temporary, whereas the infrastructure at Sonstraal and Harry Comay will be used to permanently address some of the backlog in infrastructure requirements.
As the requirements and pressures escalated, further containers and roof structures are being constructed as waiting areas and additional screening areas. Going forward, these additions will address insufficient space needs at these facilities over the short and medium term.
