Pretoria - The Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria has suffered health-care service interruptions for patients due to the breakdown of steam-generating boilers.
The steam, generated by the boilers, is used for central air-conditioning, cooling and air heaters, cooking, hot water, autoclaving, refrigeration and freezers.
According to the Gauteng Department of Health, the hospital’s boiler infrastructure also supplies steam power to Tshwane District Hospital, Pretoria Oral and Dental Hospital, Tshwane Rehabilitation Hospital, Pretoria Forensic Pathology Mortuary, Tshwane Health District’s Crisis Centre, Pretoria Hospital School and the SG Lourens Nursing Campus.
Departmental spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the breakdown had severely disrupted services to patients at the hospital.
“Due to inadequate steam supply at the hospital owing to a breakdown of the steam-generating boilers, some of the steam-dependent services at the hospital and nearby facilities were impacted.”
Modiba added that the hospital had three boilers which were used interchangeably to supply it and surrounding institutions.
“Two of the boilers are coal powered, while the third one is dual or hybrid gas/light fuel/diesel-powered.
“One boiler has been undergoing statutory preparation and is expected to be back on line during May 2023.”
He said the second boiler collapsed on April 17, and was now off-line pending repair. The department was expecting the third boiler to be online within the next couple of days so that the hospital could have a functional boiler.
The department was giving urgent attention to the restoration of steam power to the hospital and surrounding institutions, Modiba added.
The hospital has had its fair share of problems in recent years.
Last month the facility had to rely on generators for a weekend after a cable fault which resulted in delays in health-care service delivery.
According to reports, this resulted in blackouts and telephones not working due to a faulty 11kVa cable, which has since been fixed.
Normal power supply was eventually restored.
Last year, part of the hospital was engulfed by a fire that halted health-care services for several days.
Although no patients or staff were injured, the fire affected temporary structures at the hospital.
Pretoria News