Health department considering other power sources for clinics and hospitals

Health minister Dr Joe Phaahla has ordered provincial heads of department to finalise the assessment of the impact of load-shedding on the provision of healthcare over the past week.

Phaahla said on Monday he had hoped the load-shedding situation would improve, but it worsened last week and reached stage 6 for most of the week, which affected the provision of healthcare.

“The minister has ordered the director-general, working with provincial heads of health departments, to finalise the assessment of the impact in the past week,” health  department spokesperson Foster Mohale said.

“In the meantime, the minister has engaged the relevant authorities and entities, including the minister of public enterprises, Eskom and municipalities on the processes to be followed to exempt healthcare facilities from load-shedding.”

Phaahla has also been working on alternative power sources over and above generators, which are not meant for prolonged outages.

These power sources will be considered to complement generators as part of the energy mix.

Phaahla will give a comprehensive report on the impact and intervention measures during a media briefing on Friday.

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