Due to the extremely poor conditions of the ward, we had to start the renovations immediately. We are now urgently looking for donations towards medical equipment that will monitor and diagnose pregnant women.
The health crisis
The health sector is plagued with aging infrastructure, under resourced wards, and hospitals that often run at over 100% capacity. We are urgently addressing this crisis to ensure that in the coming years, SAME Foundation projects will allow doctors to do their jobs effectively and save thousands of lives.
Our current focus for Leratong Hospital: mother and child healthcare
2013: Neonatal Ward complete
2014: Maternity Ward complete
2015: Paediatric Ward (Orthopaedic & Surgical) complete
2016: Antenatal Ward – current focus
Antenatal Clinic
Leratong Antenatal Unit sees on average 8200 expectant mothers a year. Of the 8200 babies born last year, 1552 landed up in Neonatal either because they were premature or born with life threatening illnesses. The tragedy is that 9% of these babies died. Many are disabled, or have been moved to Paediatric wards because of their ages for further treatment. Many of these deaths and disabilities could have been prevented had the Antenatal Unit been properly equipped to diagnose babies in distress or mothers with medical problems.
Leratong Hospital
Leratong is a Regional Hospital that has a capacity of 900 beds of which 813 are usable. It serves the population of the West Rand, and is a referral hospital to over 60 health facilities in the area. The services are rendered through a staff complement of 1 560 across various occupational groups.
Leratong hospital was built in the early 1970’s when the existence of informal settlements in the area was virtually unknown. Today, with the massive proliferation of informal settlements in our catchment area together with the change in disease profile mainly due to the burden of HIV/AIDS, has resulted in increased patient load. HIV/AIDS, TB, chronic non communicable diseases, trauma and violence remain the key health problems.
Project objectives
This project will see the revitalisation of the entire Antenatal Clinic to quality, hygienic standards with enough beds to accommodate all patients. The unit will be fuly equipped with state-of-the-art medical technology and doctors and nurses will undergo training on the new equipment.
To get invloved
For a detailed costing and project plan, please contact Tyrone Pols: Tyrone@samefoundation.org.za
Project Start
Before photos
