Technology company Siemens South Africa has joined forces with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Eastern Cape Department of Health to provide a separate modular hospital solution to the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, in East London.

This modular solution, with a 100-bed capacity, will be erected as an extension of the hospital for the purpose of easing the burden on the hospital amid the second wave of Covid-19 infections and providing adequate, quality healthcare.

The hand-over of the hospital module is projected to take place in the first quarter of this year.

The extension will provide the main hospital with direly needed additional capacity of ten new intensive care beds, 90 ward beds, diagnostics services and a pharmacy store. The separate facility will ensure access to equipment that is current, efficient and of superior quality.

Siemens project partners include Solidarity Fund, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens Caring Hands and Aspen Pharmacare. The partner organisations seek to jointly address major health sector challenges faced by the community of uMdantsane as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A financial grant of up to €3.5-million has been contributed by the GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa CEO Sabine Dall’Omo says the collaboration of all stakeholders involved solidifies Siemens' business-to-society mindset that private companies must take up the call to contribute towards the prosperity and progress of  the societies that they operate in.

In line with its donation of the facility, Siemens, on a global scale, has established a worldwide relief fund to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic under the auspices of the community-serving nonprofit organisation Siemens Caring Hands.

As such, all Siemens employees could make monetary donations to Siemens Caring Hands for this effort. Siemens then matches every amount donated, effectively doubling any donation made to Siemens Caring Hands. The organisation is using these donations to deliver rapid aid to people affected by the pandemic worldwide.

To date, Siemens Caring Hands has donated €520 000 towards the modular hospital solution in the Eastern Cape.

As a sponsor, Aspen Pharmacare group strategic trade development senior executive Stavros Nicolaou says Aspen operates important pharmaceutical manufacturing operations in Port Elizabeth (which includes Covid-19 vaccine formulation and filling capability) and East London, where the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital is situated.

“We endeavour to continuously make sustainable contributions towards the communities in which we operate. Through this partnership, we aim to assist in providing ongoing quality healthcare to members of the East London community during the unprecedented and challenging period of Covid-19.”