Khayelitsha District Hospital Set to Open Soon

The new Khayelitsha District Hospital, which is currently in its final stages of construction and finishing, will be opened in April 2012. It will provide access to quality health care straight to the community of Khayelitsha, servicing the approximately 500 000 people in the area. The 230-bed medical facility will provide support to the surrounding primary healthcare facilities to ensure that patients receive care at the lowest level of entry into the healthcare system. Patients who require more advanced levels of care will be referred to Tygerberg Hospital.

Services that will be available include:

• In-patient services, including surgery, medicine, paediatrics and obstetrics.
• A referral out-patient service which includes a medical day ward, predominantly for ARV referrals.
• A large accident and emergency unit; it is 30% larger than that of a standard district hospital trauma unit to cater for the high incidence of trauma and homicide in the area.
• A large maternity ward; it is 30% larger than that of a standard district hospital maternity ward to cater for the high population growth and birth rate in the area. The obstetrics unit also includes a nursery and kangaroo mother care facility.
• An EMS/ambulance station with heliport that will serve as the divisional headquarters of the Khayelitsha sub-district and the Helderberg basin.

The hospital will be served by a complement of more than 500 staff members; this includes medical and non-medical staff as well as staff from soft services tenders such as catering, landscaping and cleaning. Currently, there are 240 staff members on the hospital's establishment and the recruitment and the filling of posts is ongoing.