Patients moved to Mloganzila

Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday directed the authorities of Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) to relocate the facility’s Internal Medicine department to a new medical centre at Mloganzila, Kwembe on the outskirts of the city.

Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children minister Ummy Mwalimu issued the directive during her tour of the Mloganzila Medical Centre which is run by the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Muhas).

She directed that all 270 patients admitted to that department must be shifted to the new facility immediately and called on all medical-officers-in-charge of regional referral hospitals across the country to start referring patients to the medical centre so that they would be attended to by internal medical specialists.

“All the specialists in that department must now leave for Mloganzila. Any other doctors remaining at that department should be evenly relocated to regional hospitals in other parts of the country,’’ she said.

The minister’s directive came just a day before the Medical Association of Tanzania (Mat) was due to hold a symposium today, aimed at discussing the best approach for redistribution of doctors in Tanzania.

However, Mat was forced to postpone the symposium citing “reasons beyond their control.”

In a statement published in the association’s website www.mat.or.tz, Mat said, “The symposium will not be held until further notice. Mat’s intention was to gather opinions from the medical fraternity and find the best ways to give advice; following the announcement made recently by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children.”

However, yesterday, Ms Mwalimu said thirty-five doctors from MNH who would not be relocated to Mloganzila must be redistributed to regional hospitals outside Dar es Salaam.

She said, “These doctors, nurses and other medical staff at Muhimbili will now be relocated to regional hospitals but it has been proposed that their salary schemes should remain unchanged,’’ she added.

The minister said this during a tour of the new Mloganzila Hospital in Kwembe, Ubungo District on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. The facility is in dire need of medical staff, earlier reports have suggested.