Power outage cripples operations at Mpilo Hospital

Operations at Mpilo Central Hospital have been severely disrupted following a prolonged power outage that began on Thursday, raising concerns over patient safety and access to critical healthcare services.

Ward 2 councillor Adrian Moyo said the blackout was caused by a fault at a nearby substation operated by ZESA Holdings.

"The hospital is in darkness, compromising activities," Moyo said, adding that essential medical services have been significantly affected.

He cited a case where a resident reportedly failed to receive timely emergency treatment after bringing his injured brother to the hospital.

"The nurses and doctors said they could not assist him in the darkness. He spent nearly four hours before being attended to," Moyo said.

Medical staff are understood to have indicated that most of the hospital's equipment requires electricity to function, leaving them unable to carry out critical procedures during the outage.

Concerns have also been raised over the hospital's backup power system. While a generator is reportedly in place, its failure to operate during the outage has drawn criticism.

"They are not giving us a straight answer as to why the generator is not working," Moyo said.

The situation has placed additional strain on patients, many of whom are now being forced to seek treatment at private facilities, which are often unaffordable.

"Mpilo Hospital is a key referral centre for Bulawayo and the Matabeleland provinces, but due to this disaster, access to affordable healthcare has been severely compromised," Moyo added.

Acting chief executive officer Solwayo Ngwenya said he had just returned from Harare and was not immediately aware of the situation.

"I cannot say anything, I was away. You can inquire with the public relations department," he said.

Meanwhile, the hospital's public relations office attributed the outage to alleged vandalism of the substation by members of the community, shifting responsibility away from the institution.

Efforts to obtain a comment from Shepherd Dadi were unsuccessful, although indications are that repair work on the faulty substation was underway as of midday yesterday.

The blackout has exposed vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure at one of Zimbabwe's largest referral hospitals, sparking calls for urgent intervention to restore power and safeguard patient care.