MASVINGO General Hospital, is failing to secure $300 000 demanded by power company Zesa, to exempt the provincial referral health institution from load shedding, an official has said.

The hospital, unlike other referral health centres across the country is not being exempted from load shedding.

This has seen the hospital facing challenges especially in trying to meet emergency services such as operations. Presenting a report on the state of the hospital before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care in Masvingo recently, hospital superintendent Dr Julius Chirengwa said the institution was adversely affected by the power cuts and in need of uninterrupted power supply.

“Zesa has asked for a fee of $300 000 so that we can have dedicated power, so we are looking at raising that amount,” said Dr Chirengwa.

He said the hospital, besides being strategic was being treated like residential areas, a situation putting lives of some patients, especially those with chronic diseases at risk.State media