THE government has pledged to establish a standalone drug and substance abuse rehabilitation centre at Ingutsheni Central Hospital in Bulawayo to ease pressure on the country’s largest psychiatric institution and allow it to refocus on its core mandate of mental health care.
The development was announced following a recent familiarisation tour of the facility by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi, to assess its capacity and challenges.
Ingutsheni Central Hospital chief medical officer, Nemache Mawere, said the hospital has long proposed the separation of mental health services from drug-related cases.
"As Ingutsheni Hospital, we are happy that the government has made a commitment to set up a standalone rehabilitation centre here,” he told Southern Eye in an interview.
“This will help us concentrate on psychiatric care while drug and substance abuse patients get dedicated treatment.”
He said the hospital had previously submitted proposals to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, including detailed bills of quantities but the government lacked funding at the time.
“The (government) has been talking about this for a while, but the VP’s visit shows a real intent,” he said.
“They wanted to see the location and understand the scale of what we are dealing with.”
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In the interim, Mawere said the hospital plans to convert sections of the facility into private wards for acute drug and substance abuse cases, with plans to later transfer recovering patients to a step-down facility in Lobengula for extended rehabilitation of three to six months.
“We will also refurbish our Emakhandeni Halfway Home under this programme for community-based care and reintegration,” he added.
Established in 1908, Ingutsheni was originally designed for long-term psychiatric care but has, in recent years, been overwhelmed by admissions linked to substance abuse.
Drugs such as crystal methamphetamine (mutoriro), codeine-based cough syrups, and cannabis are now contributing to a significant portion of the hospital's caseload.
Despite public misconceptions, the hospital has long been a hub for rehabilitation and skill-building.
The hospital boasts a range of rehabilitation services including occupational therapy, carpentry, vegetable gardening, and recreational therapy.
It also runs a training school for psychiatric students and an irrigation farm that supplies the hospital kitchen with surplus produce sold to the public.
The 708-bed institution also manages facilities like the Bellevue Halfway Home for chronic psychiatric patients nearing recovery and the St Francis Children’s Home for mentally challenged children.
However, the hospital has long struggled with high readmission rates.
Principal nursing officer, Davison Ntini, once revealed that in a single year, over 500 patients were readmitted pointing to gaps in community psychiatric support.
