Old Hillbrow Hospital to be reopened

24 November 2016

Plans are underway for the refurbishment of the old Hillbrow Hospital to be reopened as a 300 bed district hospital in 2019.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu "conditional assessment has been done and the report indicates that the buildings are sound and habitable for health use. Heritage Council report is anticipated to be approved by the end of November."

The proposed timelines are as follows:

- Planning - February 2017;
- Tender advert and award - May 2017;
- Site establishment and construction - August 2017 to June 2019; and
- Commissioning and handover - July 2019 to November 2019.

With regard to cost, Mahlangu says that "the department will only be able to finalize costing once the Heritage Council has completed its work."

I welcome the proposed re-opening of this historic hospital which was closed in 1997. This unwise move put strain on the nearby Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital as many patients went there instead.

I hope that there is proper funding for the refurbishment and that deadlines will be met, as previous building projects have been much delayed.

It will benefit a large inner city population and relieve pressure on the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital which is supposed to be for specialist treatment only.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 24 November 2016