By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Health in Gauteng on Thursday confirmed that a number of hospitals in the province are experiencing water supply interruptions.
The affected hospitals include Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Helen Joseph Hospital, Zola Community Health Centre and Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital on the West Rand.
The water outages have been caused by various problems experienced by Joburg Water and Rand Water.
On Tuesday, Joburg Water said City Power was conducting repairs at the Eikenhof pump station due to the damage caused on feeder boards supplying the pump station with electricity.
City Power has since completed the repairs at the pump station.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said Joburg Water has dispatched water tankers to the affected facilities.
“Helen Joseph Hospital and surrounding areas started experiencing water shortage from Monday. Various areas affected include the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, and the various wards.
“The facility management is closely monitoring the situation and has put in place measures to divert Priority 1 (emergency and critical) and Priority 2 (urgent but stable) patients to other facilities when necessary.
“Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital has been experiencing water supply challenges since Monday due to Hursthill 1 reservoir being critically affected. Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital is also experiencing water shortages.
“Mogale City municipality has been contacted to assist with the water tankers to be stationed at the hospital premises. Zola Community Health Centre in Soweto has been relying on municipal water tankers for the past two weeks.”
The department apologised to patients for the water supply interruptions. It said the health facilities, even with contingency measures in place such as having tanks and boreholes, still relied on constant supply of water from relevant authorities to carry out health services.