Phalombe District Hospital excites DHO, chief
Phalombe district health officer (DHO) Ketwin Kondowe says once the new district hospital is completed, it will help to save money for referrals to Zomba Central Hospital.
The district hospital, which is under construction, is expected to be finished by September 30 2019.
The hospital project is jointly funded by Malawi Government, contributing about $5million (about K3.6 billion), Arab Bank for African Development (Badea) contributing $7 million (K5.1 billion) and Saudi Fund for Development contributing $12 million (K9.2 billion).
Kondowe said his office spends over K19 million per month to refer patients to Holy Family Mission Hospital, a Christian Health Association of Malawi (Cham) hospital.
“As a direct beneficiary of this project, we are happy that the hospital is taking shape. The hospital will help to curb some of the challenges we are facing,” said the DHO.
Kondowe said the money, which the district spends on the service level agreement, will be used for other important activities such as procurement of medical drugs.
Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaduya commended government for allocating money for the construction of the hospital.
“Contractors are doing a commendable job to make sure that people of Phalombe should start accessing quality health service in their district. The project has already started benefiting communities as some have been employed at the site,” she said.
Phalombe District has population of over 393 000 people, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO). n
