The Gerehu General Hospital in the nation’s capital has closed its doors from general outpatients and other non-critical cases following a recent armed holdup.
Patients seeking treatment at the hospital since Friday were turned away at the gate, with many condemning the actions of the criminals responsible for Thursday's holdup.
When this newsroom visited the hospital today, security guards could be seen manning the gate, keeping it locked with a padlock and only allowing entry for very critical patients.
Patients were turned away at the gate and told to read a notice on the fence titled: ‘Scale Down of Services’. It advised the general public that Gerehu General Hospital, as of Friday, had scaled down its operations until further notice.
This is due to the armed holdup and robbery of the hospital bus.
Basic services including adult outpatient, children’s outpatient, consultation clinics and Well Baby services were shut down, effective Friday 19th January, until further notice.
Emergency service has also been scaled down.
Though the hospital management apologised for the inconvenience, they are urging the public in Gerehu to work with police and apprehend the suspects involved in the holdup.
Gerehu Police confirmed the incident, adding police apprehended the bus after it was abandoned. Unfortunately, several parts were looted.