Mako Jerera
Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care (Rtd) General Constantino Chiwenga officially re-opened St Anne’s Hospital in Harare, today.
The hospital had been closed for five years due to legal issues.
Speaking at the reopening ceremony, VP Chiwenga extended his appreciation to the church for the role they are playing in complementing Government efforts in the provision of Heath Care Services in the country.
“It is my sincere hope that as we reopen St Anne’s hospital as a General hospital, we will continue to work together in the realization of our common goal which is the expansion and modernisation of our public health facilities. My ministry recognises the role played by the church in providing healthcare to all our citizens, both in urban and rural settings,” said the Vice President.
In December, 2015 a High Court judge ruled that the elite private hospital had no right to continue operating from LCM’s building following termination of its lease agreement in 2014.
St Anne’s Hospital filed an Urgent Chamber application which temporarily stayed the execution of the court order, but in February 2016, a High Court judge dismissed the health institution’s urgent chamber application seeking to stay the execution order.
The hospital re-opened in August 2020 as a Covid-19 response centre in an effort to compliment the government’s effort in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following an agreement between the Catholic Sisters of the Little Company of Mary (LCM), the owners of the hospital and the trustees of Solidarity Trust Zimbabwe.
The joint venture helped to establish the St Anne’s Hospital Covid-19 Response Centre to assist and complement Government’s preparedness and response plan.
The 165-bed health facility will now be operating as a referral hospital, treating both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.
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