12 Mar 2025

Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital (SKMTH) will be opened to the general public serving as a Quaternary or Tertiary Hospital in the medium to long term, the Assistant Minister of Health, Mr Lawrence Ookeditse has said.

Responding to a question in parliament he said a task force was convened to come up with models for SKMTH to function as a Quaternary Hospital, in December, offering free universal health coverage for all Botswana citizens and residents.

The task force, he said had just completed its work, adding that ministry was in the process of reviewing the options and recommendations would be forwarded to cabinet. 

“One of the plans includes activation of the academic responsibilities, particularly the training of future health specialists and sub-specialists,” he added.

Furthermore, the assistant minister said relieving the congestion at other government hospitals required holistic revitalisation of primary health care, as it was not just about opening SKMTH to the public.

He explained that SKMTH was a public company, wholly owned by the government, with an object in its constitution to conduct and maintain a public university hospital. “As a public company, SKMTH was designed to operate in such a way that it can generate income just like other state owned enterprises, for example University of Botswana, Botswana Power Corporation, among others, such that it can sustain itself,” he added.

As such, Mr Ookeditse said the hospital accepted patients who were referred by both private and public health practitioners and facilities, the majority being referred by Ministry of Health. 

However, he said plans were underway to change the current arrangement to benefit the general public. Molepolole North MP, Mr Arafat Khan, had asked Mr Ookeditse to state if SKMTH was a public or a private hospital, the current status of SKMTH in terms of how it currently operated and why it operated that way.

Mr Khan also wanted to know if there were any plans to change the hospital’s current arrangement to benefit the public and what was the ministry’s long term plans on SKMTH, in relation to its utilisation by the public, and action to relieve congestion of other government hospitals. ENDS