The Sunday News
Dumisani Sibanda Sunday News Correspondent
THE Health Services Board has reportedly ordered the United Bulawayo Hospitals to re-advertise the post of operations director at the institution about five months after the interviews were conducted. This has sparked fears that the development might see a new face taking over the high post. Situated in the eastern part of Bulawayo, UBH has 650 beds and is one of the two principal referral centres for the southern part of the country. The position of operations director fell vacant when the incumbent, Mr Elliot Mashingaidze left the institution at the end of last year on retirement.
Last week, the position was advertised in both Chronicle and The Herald newspapers but it was not stated that it was being re-advertised and did not say what those who were interviewed for the position in January this year were supposed to do.
The position was first advertised in October last year and a dozen applicants were short-listed and interviewed for the position.
However, they have not been informed of the outcome of the interviews. Last week, the Health Services Board, is reported to have instructed the UBH chief executive officer Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu, to re-advertise the position. Contacted for comment on Friday about the issue, Mrs Ndlovu referred questions to the Health Services Board.
“Talk to the Health Services Board about that as it is the one which decides on that as the employer,” she responded. The UBH board chairman, Mr Francis Chitehwe, confirmed that interviews for the operations director post were done.
“Yes, the interviews were done and we recommended three candidates and sent the papers to the Health Services Board which has the final say on employment matters and as to why the position is being re-advertised you can talk to them,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from the Health Services Board chairman Mr Lovemore Mbengeranwa were fruitless.
However, sources said the Health Services Board is said to have asked for the post to be re-advertised because it had only appeared in the Chronicle and wasn’t flighted in The Herald.
“We hear the board said the position was a national one and as such it should also be advertised in Herald newspaper,” said a source at the hospital. “You then ask yourself why a whole Health Services Board should take eight months to discover that an advert was not placed in the The Herald. A dozen people were interviewed for the position way back in January and only last week, did we hear the Health Services Board has issued the instruction for a re-advert. I smell a rat. The post is an influential one as it also has to do with handling of tenders.”
The incumbent would be in charge of the hospital’s operations department “which provides supportive assistance and coordination of services to the other departments of the hospital and is responsible for efficient systems and controls, necessary supplies, adequate equipment and facilities, and, of course, physicians and patients”.
Falling under the operations director are the Central Stores, Human Resources, Hospital Food Service, Health Information and Mortuary departments.
Another source at the hospital said a prominent Bulawayo based administrator who has a Masters Degree in Business Administration and is a PHD candidate with a South African university, Mr Nkululeko Ndlovu, another person from the National University of Science and Technology and the acting Operations Director at the hospital a Ms Ndlovu were the three names that were shortlisted and their names forwarded to the board.
