• By Chollastic Tjihuea

The Walvis Bay State Hospital is currently operating without a functioning ambulance, which residents say, could be the only determining factor on whether a patient lives or dies during critical and life-threating emergencies.  Patients and their families are now forced to make their own transport arrangements or rent a private ambulance, which are often costly.

Residents at the town are now raising serious concerns over the conditions and services at that state health facility, while calling on Government to intervene as a matter of urgency. A stage four cancer patient, who preferred anonymity, said they have to call an ambulance from Swakopmund to transport another elderly patient under their care in case of emergencies.  “However, there were instances when securing an ambulance was not possible. In such cases, taking a taxi became the only option,” they explained. 

While further highlighting the hardship involved, they added: “For young people, it is easy to take a taxi, but for an elderly patient with bedsores, it was a bit difficult. The hospital is not in good condition.” In response, to the growing concerns over the lack of emergency medical transport at the hospital, Sheriff Marshall of the Namibian Marshall Rangers, Sean Naude, told Confidente that they have taken a bold step to support vulnerable members of the community through the launch of a private initiative the Community Rescue State Foundation. Naude expressed deep worry about the ongoing shortage of state ambulance services.  Speaking on Tuesday, he revealed that their organization was recently forced to cover the cost of a private ambulance to transport elderly patients from Kuisebmund to the state hospital and back, simply for catheter replacements.

“I called the state hospital directly, and they told me, sorry, we just don’t have an ambulance available,’” Naude said.
He described scenes at the hospital where patients in urgent need of transport were turned away due to the unavailability of government ambulances.  “I was at the hospital last week, and people were calling, requesting ambulances. The nurse told them, there are no ambulances available, please call St. Gabriel Ambulance services.”

However, private ambulance services like St. Gabriel come at a steep cost of a minimum of N$750 per trip.  Naude also said doctors leave the hospital at exactly 5 PM, regardless of the number of patients still waiting to be seen. 
The growing public dissatisfaction has led to urgent calls for intervention from the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Meanwhile, the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Walters Kamaya, confirmed that both the Walvis Bay and Swakopmund hospitals recently received donations of new ambulances. However, the two old ambulances assigned to Walvis Bay hospital are currently out of service.

Quotations were outsourced to fix them as soon as possible. The ministry is trying to fix the two ambulances that are in for service to strengthen the service delivery and mobility of the hospital, in addition to the one that was donated,” Kamaya mentioned the Ministry is in the process of resolving logistical matters at the hospital in order to repair the ceiling. The damage is said to have occurred due to water seepage during recent heavy rainfall, the first of its kind in several years.