THE agony of long distances travel for residents to receive healthcare services might come to an end.
This is because plans to build a new 300 bedded Kempton Park District Hospital are underway.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has told the provincial legislature.
For more than two decades, the old Kempton Park Hospital had been abandoned with medical equipment left to slide into decay.
This put so much pressure on Tembisa and Edenvale hospitals in Ekurhuleni due to overcrowding.
In June, during a sight visit to the old hospital conducted by the DA following numerous complaints of the hospital now allegedly being used for criminals activities with alleged stories of paranormal activities, kids in school uniforms were found chilling during school hours.
The ceiling had been ripped out, with broken windows and doors.
In a statement released on Wednesday, 16 November, the department said Nkomo-Ralehoko said the hospital was shut down due to re-prioritization and streamlining of services.
The hospital was shut down in 1996 under the leadership of the then Joburg mayor and health MEC, Amos Masondo.
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"MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko indicated that the Gauteng department of health has since engaged the Gauteng Infrastructure Funding Agency (GIFA) to assist with the funding proposals for the demolition of the old facility and the building of the new hospital. There are no time frames and budget as yet, as the proposal is still under consideration," said the department.
The department said given the growing population in Kempton Park, there is now a need for a higher level of care facility.
