Government assures on central hospitals facilities

The Ministry of Health has said it is working hard to ensure that central hospitals are fully equipped to be providing quality services.

Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said this Sunday after appreciating progress of works that will culminate in the installation of a magnetic resource imaging (MRI) scanner at Mzuzu Central Hospital in Mzuzu City.

The machine uses magnets and radio waves to produce detailed images of internal organs and tissues.

Installation works are expected to be completed by next month.

Kandodo Chiponda said the government was impressed with how Mzuzu Central Hospital was improving service delivery using modern machinery such as a computed tomography (CT).

“President Lazarus Chakwera wants central hospitals to be fully-equipped facilities that can be handling serious cases from district facilities. Mzuzu Central Hospital had a gap because the facility did not have machines like CT and MRI scanners and specialists in different areas.

“Now we have some modern equipment that is pushing the facility to be a real state-of-the-art central hospital,” Kandodo Chiponda said.

Mzuzu Central Hospital Director John Chipolombwe said MRI machines would enable the facility to be reducing costs incurred when patients are, every two weeks, sent to Lilongwe and Blantyre for MRI services.

Lilongwe has Lilongwe Central Hospital while Blantyre has Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.

“What happens is that we have an X-lay machine with which we take images but, sometimes, it fails to show us the problem. So, we go further to use the CT scanner but, still, sometimes it fails to show us the real problem. This is why we needed an MRI scanner and we hope that this will help us to provide the most improved services to people right here in the Northern Region,” Chipolombwe said.

The MRI is being housed in one of the new structures at the facility.

Experts are working on cabling and putting up a network system for it.

Mzuzu Central Hospital is also constructing paediatric and rainbow clinics, field hospital and other structures.