Limpopo Health: This is a hospital we are running, not a correctional facility
Limpopo health authorities are investigating how a renal patient
managed to carry a gun into the Polokwane Provincial Hospital on
Thursday.
Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba confirmed the patient shot and injured a nurse before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
In a video posted on the provincial department’s Facebook page, she told SABC the nurse is recovering well.
“It was just after 5 pm, wherein a nurse was in a bathroom next to the change room in our renal unit. Then a patient, who has been our regular patient and coming three times a week, fired a gun.”
Ramathuba says the nurse was found lying on the floor after the shooting.
He is currently in a stable condition.
The MEC says authorities have lots of questions, because the patient was referred from one of the department’s other periphery hospitals in the province.
Ramathuba has expressed their condolences with the family of the patient.
She adds they are now grappling with tightening security which could mean wasting precious time in order to first search patients in ambulances.
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Three doctors shot at Limpopo hospital
It is alleged five heavily armed suspects entered the hospital and shot the three doctors while robbing the premises. The MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, rushed to the hospital, where she says one of the female doctors is in a very critical condition and currently undergoing surgery.