Central SA
Casualty services at Gateway Clinic reopened a year after fire─── ZENANDE MPAME 13:03 Mon, 04 Aug 2025
The Free State department of health on Monday (4/8) reopened casualty services at the Gateway Clinic, located on the National District Hospital premises, following the fire disaster that occurred last year.
The casualty services were officially opened at the clinic, which will accommodate up to 22 patients when needed.
A total of 83 patients were transferred to various hospitals in Bloemfontein after they had to be evacuated from the National District Hospital on Sunday, 7 July last year, when a fire broke out at the hospital.
“Since the fire at the hospital last year, we haven’t had services such as casualty, accident, and emergency services within the National Hospital; these services were redirected to Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital,” said National District Hospital CEO and acting CEO at Pelonomi, Dr NJ Setshego.
“We are pleased that we were able to repurpose one of our buildings to serve as an emergency and accident facility for our community. We’re glad that these services will be accessible starting today,” he said.
He added that a few patients had already been seen and that the facility will now offer a combination of emergency services and clinic care in one space.
The investigation into the cause of the fire at the hospital is still ongoing. At the time, it was suspected that a cigarette may have ignited trees outside the building.
Of the 83 patients, 22 were transferred to Botshabelo District Hospital, while 50 were temporarily accommodated at the newly renovated Gateway Clinic on site before being moved to Universitas Academic Hospital, Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital, and the Mangaung University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) Centre.
“It is a great pleasure to be part of this occasion where we are bringing a casualty unit at National District Hospital back to life,” said Free State MEC for Health, Monyatso Mahlatsi. “It has been a gruelling 13 months since the incident that transpired last year; it created significant pressure for us.
“Today, our casualty unit here at National District Hospital will resume operations, and the pressure we’ve consistently felt at Pelonomi and other facilities will be eased, because we now have two facilities to which patients can be referred.”
