By CHILA NAMAIKO –

CHOMA General Hospital management has been taken to task by District Commissioner Bernadette Hamweemba for alleged failure to keep the newly built facility clean.
Ms Hamweemba was dismayed that the general hospital, barely two years of being in operation, had dirty walls in some wards posing a health threat to the patients.
She wondered why management at the hospital allegedly failed to slash the over-grown grass surrounding some patients’ wards which had become a breeding centre of mosquitoes.
Ms Hamweemba, who made an impromptu visit to the Out Patient Department (OPD) later, stormed the conference room where she found the staff having a meeting and complained about the unkempt surroundings at the institution.
“I am not happy, this new general hospital has only been in operation for about a year but today, there is litter all over, walls are dirty while outside there is tall grass. This hospital is supposed to be clean because it’s where people are treated from,” she said.
Ms Hamweemba, who was admitted in one of the wards, complained of management’s failure to adhere her recent directive to clean the dirty patients’ wards.
“I was here recently, I had a headache but I could see the dirty walls at OPD and the grass I spoke about last time is still behind this building,” she said.
Though the hospital was facing challenges, it was vital for management to sustain cleanliness to avoid outbreak of other diseases in the wards.
Ms Hamweemba said the Government was making concerted efforts to provide quality health services to people and that hospitals need to uphold hygiene at all times.
Senior Hospital administrator Emmanuel Siame said it was difficult to keep the walls in the wards clean because of the water paint that was used.