New hospital facilities strengthen healthcare in southern Namibia

Keetmanshoop District Hospital has inaugurated a new N$7 million CT - Scan Unit and an Emergency Unit renovated at a cost of N$6.7 million, marking a significant step in improving healthcare provision in southern Namibia.

The facilities were officially opened on 26 October by the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Esperance Luvindao, who said the developments would strengthen the hospital’s role as a regional referral centre. “Today’s inauguration is a bold step in Keetmanshoop District Hospital’s journey towards becoming the regional referral hospital for southern Namibia. Serving more than 216,000 people, this hospital already does the vital work of a referral centre. “With intensive care, specialist services, a modern emergency unit and now advanced diagnostic services, Keetmanshoop Hospital has become the natural healthcare hub of the southern regions,” Luvindao said.

She said the new facilities demonstrated the government’s commitment to bringing quality, equitable and timely healthcare closer to communities. However, she stressed that modern diagnostic equipment needed to be supported by an effective emergency response service. “The emergency unit is the front door of any hospital. It is where every minute counts, whether it is a victim of a road accident or a mother arriving with a critically ill child in the middle of the night. “Patients arrive here in vulnerable conditions, and they deserve a facility that is responsive, safe, clean, dignified and fit for purpose. That is why we have invested in the comprehensive renovation of this vital unit. It now provides our doctors and nurses with a modern, well-equipped environment to receive, assess, stabilise and treat patients promptly,” she said.

Luvindao said 415 patients from the ǁKharas Region had been referred to Windhoek for CT scans over the past year, including both emergency and non-emergency cases. “For many years, patients in the ǁKharas Region who needed a CT scan had to travel long distances, often to Windhoek, about 500km away. “Those journeys came at a cost in time, money and health. Diagnoses were delayed, families spent money they could hardly afford on transport and accommodation, and referral hospitals faced additional pressure. For a patient with a head injury, a suspected stroke or serious trauma, those hours matter,” Luvindao said.

The new CT scanner is expected to serve patients from both the ǁKharas and Hardap regions. “The ǁKharas Region has a population of 109,893 people. Our neighbours in the Hardap Region, with a population of 106,680, will also look to this facility. Together, that is a catchment population of 216,573 Namibians who can now access CT scans in southern Namibia, closer to their homes and families,” the minister said.

The scanner has been installed and is operational, with trained radiographers already conducting emergency scans. Luvindao said the service would improve the diagnosis and management of trauma, strokes, cancer, neurological conditions and other complex illnesses requiring timely and accurate investigations. “This service will strengthen the management of trauma, stroke, cancer, neurological conditions and many other complex conditions that demand an accurate and timely diagnosis. A doctor who can see clearly what is wrong can treat decisively, and a patient who is treated early has a better chance of recovery,” she said.

She added that Keetmanshoop District Hospital had undergone a series of upgrades and expansions, including the development of specialist services. The hospital now has specialists in several major clinical disciplines, including general surgery, anaesthesiology, internal medicine, paediatrics, urology, nephrology and orthopaedics. It also has a 13-bed intensive care unit for critically ill patients and a five-bed dialysis unit serving people with kidney failure.

Luvindao said patients received an average of 20 dialysis sessions per month, although it was unclear from the information provided whether this figure referred to individual patients or the total number of sessions. The minister also announced that a radiologist would soon join the hospital’s medical team, paving the way for non-emergency CT scans. “This will enable the hospital to commence non-emergency CT scans, ensuring that a broader range of patients, and not only those requiring emergency investigations, can access these services here in Keetmanshoop,” she said.

Luvindao thanked healthcare workers for their continued service and urged them to treat patients with compassion and protect and maintain the new facilities. “The equipment and infrastructure should be properly cared for to ensure they continue serving communities for generations to come,” she said.