The government plans to upgrade Keetmanshoop District Hospital to an intermediate facility following the inauguration of a new N$7.3-million state dialysis unit on Friday.
Minister of health and social services Esperance Luvindao at the event said the hospital is currently classified as a district hospital, but the services it provides and the size of the population it serves justify a higher level of care.
“You should be an intermediate to referral level hospital,” she said.
Luvindao said the installation of the dialysis unit and the planned procurement of a CT scan machine will kick-start the upgrade.
Intermediate hospitals serve as regional referral centres and provide specialised services and diagnostic capacity that are not available at district hospitals.
The new dialysis unit was completed in late 2024 at a cost of N$7.3 million.
According to the ministry, the government has invested more than N$100 million in health infrastructure in the ||Kharas region since 2023 as part of a N$16-billion health systems strengthening programme approved by the Cabinet.
This includes phase two of infrastructure upgrades, which have been completed at a cost of N$9 million.
“We are committed to ensuring we improve healthcare in Namibia. And let this be a symbol of hope . . . There is a lot of work to be done; I’m not denying it,” Luvindao said.
Senior medical officer Dr Herve Sabwa at the event said the dialysis unit will reduce the need for patients to travel far for treatment.
He said the state last month paid for 35 renal patients to receive dialysis at a private facility due to limited capacity.
Sabwa said patients travel from Aussenkehr, Karasburg, Mariental and Gibeon to access treatment at Keetmanshoop.
“Let’s say this patient must get three sessions of two hours per week, Monday, Wednesday and then Friday.
If they do not have family in Windhoek who they can stay with, they have to travel back on Monday after the session and return to Windhoek again on Tuesday or Wednesday and so on,” he said.
“So this state facility was a matter of bringing healthcare services closer to the people and improving the quality of their lives,” Sabwa said.
||Kharas governor Dawid Gertze described the establishment of the dialysis unit as a transformative moment in the region’s history.
He said it’s a watershed moment in regional healthcare, effectively decentralising life-saving renal care.
“Having this unit at Keetmanshoop eliminates the arduous 500km patients had to travel from this hospital to Windhoek.”
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