The air-conditioning unit has been overhauled and was due to be calibrated yesterday, but this could not be done because of flooding. “According to Mokgethi, 120 to 150 cancer patients have been adversely affected by the lack of PET scans at the hospital. He said Gauteng health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi, in an oral reply to questions at a sitting of the Gauteng legislature, revealed that a positron emission tomography (PET) scan machine used for diagnosing cancer patients at Charlotte Maxeke had been out of action for more than three weeks because of broken air-conditioning which causes it to overheat. Jack Bloom, the DA’s shadow health MEC in Gauteng, described the flooding as “tragic”, especially as the province enters the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.īloom said higher priority needs to be given to maintenance at the hospital, otherwise more machine and building failures would occur, endangering the lives of patients. The water was drained yesterday and the hospital has been functioning,” Kekana said.ĮWN reported that Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital CEO Dr Nkele Lesia said with Charlotte Maxeke not operational, things were likely to become difficult at his facility as Covid-19 cases increased. She said clinical areas in block 5 were the most affected by the flooding.
Ventilated patients were moved out of the trauma ICU as electricity was at risk in the main ICU, where Covid-19 patients are managed, said department spokesperson Kwara Kekana. The Gauteng health department said the leak in block 5 was caused by a threaded joint dislodging on Monday morning. A burst pipe on the roof level of Johannesburg’s Charlotte Maxeke Hospital caused flooding and the evacuation of patients on Monday.