FINANCIAL constraints have delayed the official opening of the Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Simon Mazorodze School of Medical and Health Sciences which was completed last year, Vice-Chancellor professor Rungano Zvobgo has said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the institution in 2022 challenging stakeholders to assist in improving the school and Masvingo General Hospital.
However, addressing journalists on a tour of Masvingo province on Tuesday, Zvobgo said the institution would be opened once they resolved the financial challenges.
“When the required resources are available we are actually anticipating that this will be opened by the President. That’s why you will see over there a plaque placed in readiness for HE to open the hospital,” he said.
During last year’s GZU graduation ceremony, Zvobgo said the university was ready to complement Zimbabwe’s health service delivery.
“We were going to open it last December. It was delayed because certain equipment was not there and certain facilities did not arrive on time. Most of our equipment came from China,” Zvobgo said.
“We have a lot of equipment here, but there is certain critical equipment which we need in order to make this hospital ready for service.
“We should be able to do so once the necessary resources are made available. We understand that these resources will be made available in the not distant future. We remain hopeful that this will be so.”
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Zvobgo said GZU Hospital in Mashava would run as a strategic business unit for the university.
“With respect to medical specialists to population distribution in Masvingo province, the doctor to patient ratio is currently 1:20 000 contrary to the WHO [World Health Organisation] recommended 1:1 000 ratio,” he said.
“Universal health coverage means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, with limited out-of-pocket expenditure.
“The range of universal health coverage includes health promotion and prevention services, laboratory, X-ray and imaging diagnostics and treatment services, general practitioner medical or healthcare, specialist medical or health services, rehabilitation services and palliative care, all of which will be available at the university hospital.”
The school’s executive dean Jacob Mufunda said the hospital would provide medical treatment to a vast clientele, including regionally.
“It is going to be a specialist hospital which will attend to specialist areas of medical treatment. We actually expect Masvingo Provincial Hospital, as a teaching hospital, to send some of these patients to this hospital for service,” he said.
“We have this laparoscopic surgery, which may not be available at the hospital in Masvingo, but the equipment is already here.
“The equipment is here so we expect patients who prefer to have laparoscopic surgery to have it done here. We also expect Masvingo Provincial Hospital to transfer patients to this hospital.”
