Kalafong Hospital

KALAFONG HOSPITAL

Background:

Kalafong Hospital is a tertiary hospital situated in Atteridgeville and serves an estimated 2 million people. The hospital was built in March 1973 to service the large black population. The massive proliferation of informal settlements in our catchment area together with the burden of HIV/AIDS, has resulted in increased patient load. Key health problems include HIV/AIDS, TB, chronic non communicable disease, trauma and violence.

The Problem:

The Accident & Emergency Unit was too small to handle the patient load. (They have had a 34% increase in patients over the last 10 years). The unit sees over 4000 patients a month and around 300 of these patients have to be resuscitated. Our doctors have a very short time to stabilize and save a patient but without the correct medical equipment this is impossible. Kalafong is also a provincial tertiary hospital. This is where we are training our future doctors but again without the proper equipment it is impossible to give them the training they should be getting.

The Solution:

With the number of patients going through casualty the aim of the Foundation was to look at improving infrastructure and fully equipping the unit. We revitalized and converted the unit into a fully equipped resuscitation area with eight beds for children and six beds for adults. We also developed a fully equipped isolation room.