Hundreds of contract health-care workers could lose their jobs because the fate of the Dr Elizabeth Mamisa Chabula-Nxiweni Field Hospital — which offered a glimpse of hope in the fight against Covid-19 — is up in the air.
The contract between automotive giant Volkswagen SA (VWSA) and the Eastern Cape health department comes to an end on March 31.
This includes the contracts of 331 health-care workers hired by the government.
The health workers say they feel abandoned, having put their lives on the line to battle the virus that swept across Nelson Mandela Bay.
We risked our lives to help Covid-19 patients. We risked our families’ lives as well
“We risked our lives to help Covid-19 patients.
“We risked our families’ lives as well,” one of the nurses contracted by the health department said.
The imminent end of the contracts has led to health experts warning the department to ensure the hospital can be quickly reactivated if a third wave — expected this winter — hits the province.
The hospital is regarded as one of the Eastern Cape’s biggest successes in the fight against Covid-19 because it bolstered the province’s response.
The hospital, situated at VWSA’s former Port Elizabeth plant in Neave, is a public-private partnership with the automotive giant and the German federal ministry of economic co-operation and development.
VWSA secured R80m in grant funding from the German government and handed over the first phase of the hospital in June.
The facility can now accommodate 1,485 patients, including high-acuity (extremely ill) patients who require oxygenation.
More than R20m was donated by VWSA.
The hospital is equipped with oxygenated, assessment and general care beds.
There are 119 permanent health-care workers assigned to the facility.
The conversion of the 66,000m² building was a result of collaboration between VWSA, the Eastern Cape department of health, Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.
However, as the second wave of the virus winds down, patient numbers have steadily diminished.
There were only five patients at the hospital on Tuesday.
More than 2,100 people have been treated at the field hospital since its doors opened in June.
Health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana said the permanent workers at the facility would be sent back to their previous posts.
On the workers whose contracts are due to expire and what their future holds, he said: “The contract ends on March 31. This was stipulated in the contract.”
These contracts are between the workers and the health department.
Manana said the plant was converted with the German grant as well as funding from the department’s budget.
“We have a contract in place with VW to use the premises until March 31.
“The facility belongs to VW so what happens to the facility is entirely up to VW.”
However, when asked about the future of the hospital in the event of a third wave of coronavirus infections, VWSA spokesperson Andile Dlamini said: “The health department is best placed to answer this question since it is responsible for the management of the pandemic.”
He said the car manufacturer was in discussions with the health department about the donation of equipment to government health facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“The beneficiaries will be proposed by the health department, in agreement with VWSA and the GIZ [German Agency for International Co-operation].”
Manana said the equipment — also bought with the German grant and department funding — would be assessed and delivered to other institutions that needed it.
Nelson Mandela Bay has 154 active Covid-19 cases, according to a February 14 municipal document.
Many areas in the metro only have records of single-digit active cases, indicating the second wave is nearing an end.
A contract nurse at the field hospital said: “We knew we might not get a permanent post but the department absorbed 625 nurses already.
“This left us angry and disappointed because we should get preference.”
Bhisho made a U-turn on axing 625 nursing interns after the provincial government overturned a decision by the health department in February.
There are posts because unfortunately many nurses have died due Covid-19
“There are posts because unfortunately many nurses have died due Covid-19,” the nurse said.
“There are nurses who resigned due to fatigue. This is unfair.
“We want to [be] absorbed as well.”
The issue of the contracts expiring was first raised by EFF member Msindisi Makeleni, who is a part of the party’s health portfolio in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Makeleni said any decision other than renewing the contract with the workers and VWSA would be “negligence”.
He questioned the decision not to renew the workers’ contracts in a letter sent to Bay health district manager Darlene de Vos on Saturday.
“Your department is [faced with] a shortage of staff [and] suddenly you terminate [these] contract[s],” he wrote.
Makeleni claimed the department had signed other contracts with an NGO and a hotel to pick up the slack with the likely closure of the hospital.
However, this was denied by De Vos when she was approached for comment.
“I am not aware of any future partnerships with any hotel.
“I have no knowledge of the extension of the NGO’s contract,” she said.
De Vos said only a handful of patients were admitted to the hospital at present.
“Through the department of public works, the bed capacity in our hospitals has been expanded significantly to accommodate Covid-19 patients.
“The increased bed capacity in our hospitals is expected to accommodate admissions should there be another resurgence of Covid-19 cases requiring admission,” De Vos said.
Dr Thobile Mbengashe, who is also a former superintendent-general seconded to the Bay due to Covid-19, said the field hospital had proved extremely handy during the first and second waves.
“The hospital should be kept intact as we are not out if the woods just yet.
“We should be able to use it for other services in the meantime as it is an important stopper if hospitals overflow again.”
He said further discussions should take place between the stakeholders.
“We can’t drop our guard until enough people are vaccinated.”
Former Eastern Cape health department superintendent-general Siva Pillay, who is acting as a consultant to the department in its fight against Covid-19, said the field hospital should be properly guarded to avoid any vandalism or theft.
“If anything, the hospital could be aligned with [the] medical school at Nelson Mandela University as it could easily be converted into a training facility.”
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