OSHAKATI - The Oshakati Intermediate Hospital continues to experience a shortage of critical medical staff as well as equipment needed to provide sound health care.

The hospital is currently without a pediatrician, neurologist, dietician, clinical psychologist, pediatric surgeon and it is also in need of additional anesthetist. 

The hospital, which has a catchment population of a million patients, is also in dire need of mammogram in order to detect early breast cancer while the CT scan needs replacement as the current one has reached its life span.

The hospital, which is the only referral hospital in the northern regions, only has 750 beds.
This was revealed at the handover of resuscitating training equipment worth N$350 000 from First National Bank.

The two-fold event also saw the commissioning of the N$5 million fluoroscopy machine which the hospital has been without for the last eight years.

The fluoroscopy is among the three major equipment that were critically needed at the hospital.
With the ultra sound machine received recently, the hospital is pleading from private Samaritans to assist with the mammogram machine to aid in early cancer detection.

In the absence of the fluoroscopy, patients were referred to private hospitals at a discounted price.
The Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula in his speech said the absence of a fluoroscopy machine had a negative impact on the operation of the hospital.

“These include delayed diagnoses, delayed management of cases and referring patients to private institutions at high cost,” said Shangula.

In the same vein, the minister also lauded the bank for the donation citing that the resuscitation committee was not functional due to a lack of training equipment.

“The hospital receives a number of emergency cases that require resuscitation.  With this equipment, the hospital will be able to train our healthcare workers to provide timely and effective resuscitation to the needy patients,” said Shangula.

FNB’s Retail Banking Executive Officer Nangula Kauluma said the donation to the hospital reaffirms that the bank is deeply invested in the health and well being of the Namibian nation.
“It furthermore demonstrates our commitment towards the numerous government healthcare programmes countrywide,” said Kauluma.