Lupane Hospital to open in phased rollout after long delay

The government says the long-delayed Lupane Hospital will finally begin offering limited services, marking a significant step in a project that has stretched over more than two decades in Matabeleland North Province. The announcement comes as residents continue to wait for a fully functional provincial referral hospital, with some communities saying they have endured years without access to specialist care. Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Sleiman Timios Kwidini told the National Assembly that the facility is now a priority under government efforts to modernise health infrastructure.

“Government is also accelerating the completion and operationalisation of new health facilities with priority projects such as Lupane Hospital, which is set to commence services beginning with outpatient and maternity care,” he said. He said the phased opening is intended to improve access to healthcare in underserved areas. However, the announcement has been met with scepticism in a province where construction of the hospital has reportedly taken about 25 years without full completion.

Local reports say Matabeleland North Province remains the only province in Zimbabwe without a fully functional provincial hospital, forcing residents to rely on overstretched mission facilities or expensive private care. Ward 19 councillor in Nkayi, Thubelihle Mabuza Ncube, described the impact of the delays on patients seeking specialist treatment. “For the specialised machines, I can’t say much about it because most of the times the doctors refer to Mpilo Central Hospital or private doctors, and these are the issues that make our communities have more deaths or many ailments left undiagnosed or untreated,” he said.

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He said many families are unable to afford private consultations or travel to urban hospitals. “They don’t check or treat diabetes, cancer, they just immediately refer you to Bulawayo for a scan,” he said. He added that even basic infrastructure challenges were worsening service delivery, citing non-functional solar systems at local facilities due to faulty inverters that are difficult to replace.

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