The new state-of-the-art Trompsburg Regional Hospital, which is nestled in a town surrounded by poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities, has brought hope to the local residents of the area.

The hospital, whose construction began in 2011 and is expected to be completed early next year, is by far one of the best infrastructure projects to ever come out of Xhariep district and promises to provide health services to other towns in the district.

Shiuue Mkololo (24), who has lived in Trompsburg all her life, is ecstatic about the building of the hospital. According to Mkololo, the hospital will create opportunities for businesspeople and individuals in the surrounding farming, textile, manufacturing and the food industries.

“I was forced to leave my home town to study hygiene and cleaning at the Motheo FET College in Bloemfontein and now I am volunteering at one of the local government buildings here in Trompsburg. I am just hoping this hospital will help unlock job opportunities for people living in this town first before venturing into other towns in the province,” saidMkololo.

Mkoloko said that many young people have already been absorbed in the hospital’s construction side. She lives with her unemployed mother and siblings and hopes to support them after finding employment at the hospital.

Another resident, Mmathabo Khotso (56), was seen sitting inside Kopanong clinic in the township.According to Khotso, the local clinic is overcrowded and has limited nurses to support the growing number of patients in the community. She hopes the new hospital will address the shortcoming.

“The clinic is small and you have to wake up in the early hours of the morning, walking long distances to get to the clinic. In situations of emergencies, we cannot rely on the clinic, especially for those big operations and complicated medical conditions. So we are currently forced to go to Bloemfontein for assistance. We are happy that the Trompsburg Hospital will come to our rescue,” said Khotso.

Trompsburg Regional Hospital is situated in a town with apopulationof 55 000 residents. However, the Mayor of Kopanong Local Municipality, Xolile Matwa, said the hospital will provide health services to residents of the entire district.

Matwa said the hospital will improve access to health services in the area.

“This hospital will help bring back the dignity of this municipality and will also help boost the economy. With the construction of the hospital, it means more developments surrounding this town are bound to occur. It was a very strategic decision to place the hospital in Kopanong.

“We are surrounded by Smithfield, Edenburg, Jaggersfontein, Bethulie whose residents will rely on the hospital for jobs, medical health care and best of all economic upliftment of citizens,” said Matwa.

According to Matwa, the municipality will supply water to the newly built hospital and is in the process of building a dam to ensure consistent and reliable supply of water to the all the towns.

“The construction of the hospital forced us to also look into the water situation. We are now hoping to provide sufficient water to the community of Kopanong through this project. We will divulge the rest of the information in time,” said Matwa.