New hospital to open in Khayelitsha

A new state-of-the-art hospital is set to open in Cape Town in a matter of weeks, following two years of construction.

Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) have been working on the project, which is said to have cost R450million.

The hospital will provide an extra 230 beds, with the potential to extend this to 300 beds in the future. Facilities at the hospital will include in-patient services, a medical day ward, an accident and emergency unit and an ambulance station with a helicopter and perimeter fence.

A spokesperson for KDF said patients who present at one of three clinics in Khayelitsha will be referred to the hospital for treatment if necessary. However, patients who present directly at the hospital for treatment without a referral will not normally be seen. The spokesperson went on to say the new hospital is unlikely to address the overcrowding issues at many other community health centres.