Pretoria - In commemorating Chris Hani Day, the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development MEC Ntombi Mekgwe will on Saturday officially unveil the amended name of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
Mekgwe said the hospital's new name - Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital - reflects the central role that the institution plays in the training and development of health professionals in the country.
"The province produces a third of the country's doctors and the majority of them train at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital," Mekgwe said.
During the event, Mekgwe will also perform a sod turning for the construction of a museum that will reflect the important history of the hospital.
Other activities of the day will include painting of one of the hospital wards and a Chris Hani memorial lecture to be conducted in the evening by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
Currently, the hospital has 169 trainee doctors, with some of the outstanding doctors who had an association with this hospital including the late Dr Nthato Motlana, who was regarded as the father of black economic empowerment.
The hospital is renowned as the biggest in the southern hemisphere, comprising about 3 000 beds and provides medical care to more than three million people in Soweto, surrounding areas as well as other provinces, including Mpumalanga and North West provinces.
Achievements of the hospital include groundbreaking surgeries such as the separation of the conjoined Mathibela twins, Mpho and Mphonyana.
Chris Hani Day will be celebrated on 10 April 2011 to commemorate Hani's contribution to the liberation of all South Africans. - BuaNews
