A total of 72 state hospitals will now be exempted from load shedding, an increase from the previous 31 institutions that were excluded.
They include 17 in Gauteng, 15 in KwaZulu-Natal, 14 in the Free State, 10 in Limpopo and one in North West Province, reports News24.
Health Department spokesman Foster Mohale said the department’s director-general, Sandile Buthelezi, and Eskom’s group executive for distribution, Monde Bala, are attempting to find “short-to-medium solutions to ensure no province is left behind”.
The delays, he said, were partly due to electricity configuration networks, making it challenging to isolate hospitals from community networks.
“The department has provided Eskom with a total of 212 priority hospitals countrywide to be considered for possible exclusion from load shedding on a phased approach, and 67% are supplied directly by municipalities, while Eskom supplies the remaining 33%,” he said.
A preliminary network analysis revealed that building new infrastructure, to exempt 28 hospitals in various provinces from load shedding, would cost an estimated R100m.
Load shedding a thing of the past for 72 hospitals
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Calls to exempt hospitals and clinics from loadshedding
37 of more than 300 public hospitals so far exempted from load shedding
Clarion call for hospital load shedding exemption