Mzuzu Central Hospital authorities have said the facility is facing acute shortage of beds in its children’s ward, a situation that is forcing patients to sleep on the floor.
According to officials at the hospital, the children’s ward has 32 beds against more than 100 patients currently at the facility.
Revealing this on Monday when Grand Palace Hotel donated packets of milk to patients at the ward, a pediatric department head Gift Kwamdera feared that the congestion may lead to spread of other diseases.
“We are experiencing many challenges. Meanwhile, patients are sharing one bed with others sleeping on the floor,” he said.
Kwamdera then thanked Grand Palace Hotel for the donation.
“We have patients that are not fit to eat hard food. We are, therefore, grateful for the milk. We are also appealing to other companies to do the same,” he said.
On his part, Grand Palace Hotel general manager Francis Salia said the support is in line with the hotel’s values of giving back to the community.
“Government alone cannot tackle all the challenges facing our communities, we thought it wise to come in and donate packets of milk to the children’s ward,” he said.