Lack of water cripples hospital

IS it possible to operate a 900-bed hospital without water? Katutura State Hospital has been trying to do just that for the past two days.

They’re losing the battle. Patients at the hospital were walking around in the hallways yesterday looking for cool drinks.New patients, arriving at the front door, were carrying their own bottles of water.An administrator saw the broken water main when she reported to work at 07h15 on Wednesday.She called the Ministry of Works to get repairs started.Men arrived on Wednesday but were still working digging to find the leak late yesterday afternoon.One official, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said this is the second time in two weeks that the hospital has tried to operate without a water supply.He said a requested tanker truck, filled with water, had still not arrived 36 hours after the break was discovered.About 1 500 personnel are employed in the hospital.The previous break was repaired while the hospital used water from the storage tank on the roof.The time involved in the current break has exhausted this supply, however.Toy Van Wyk (56), who has been hospitalised since Monday, said he received only a cup of water from one of the nurses today.The smell of faeces and urine which could not be flushed was obvious when The Namibian visited the hospital.Maria Ortman (32), another patient, said she had had no water since she woke at 06h00 yesterday.”I was informed by the sisters there was no water,” she said.The nurses told her the water supply would be restored by noon yesterday.But this did not happen.Meisie Zaongara (25) brought her son Joseph Shiku (4) to the hospital from Otjiwarongo with stomach problems.They brought in Coke bottles filled with water to get him through the night.Cooks in the basement kitchen were forced to use buckets of water that had been transported from the Central Hospital for their cooking.They did not know how dishes would be cleaned.Attempts to reach the nursing manager, Sister Tobias, were unsuccessful.She was reported to be in a meeting at the Central Hospital.Attempts to reach a spokesperson at the Ministry of Works were futile.Patients at the hospital were walking around in the hallways yesterday looking for cool drinks.New patients, arriving at the front door, were carrying their own bottles of water.An administrator saw the broken water main when she reported to work at 07h15 on Wednesday.She called the Ministry of Works to get repairs started.Men arrived on Wednesday but were still working digging to find the leak late yesterday afternoon.One official, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said this is the second time in two weeks that the hospital has tried to operate without a water supply. He said a requested tanker truck, filled with water, had still not arrived 36 hours after the break was discovered.About 1 500 personnel are employed in the hospital.The previous break was repaired while the hospital used water from the storage tank on the roof.The time involved in the current break has exhausted this supply, however.Toy Van Wyk (56), who has been hospitalised since Monday, said he received only a cup of water from one of the nurses today.The smell of faeces and urine which could not be flushed was obvious when The Namibian visited the hospital.Maria Ortman (32), another patient, said she had had no water since she woke at 06h00 yesterday.”I was informed by the sisters there was no water,” she said.The nurses told her the water supply would be restored by noon yesterday.But this did not happen.Meisie Zaongara (25) brought her son Joseph Shiku (4) to the hospital from Otjiwarongo with stomach problems.They brought in Coke bottles filled with water to get him through the night.Cooks in the basement kitchen were forced to use buckets of water that had been transported from the Central Hospital for their cooking.They did not know how dishes would be cleaned.Attempts to reach the nursing manager, Sister Tobias, were unsuccessful.She was reported to be in a meeting at the Central Hospital.Attempts to reach a spokesperson at the Ministry of Works were futile.