Cape Town - Festive season spirit arrived right on time at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) when hundreds of in-patients were handed weighty grocery and hygiene hampers while enjoying the heart-warming sounds of the St Timothy’s Christmas Band.
Staff distributed 800 hampers to in-patients at the hospital yesterday, as part of its annual project to lift spirits in hospital wards during the holiday season.
Patient Craig Visser from Mitchells Plain suffered a stroke last Tuesday and has been in the hospital since. Visser expressed how the gesture from the hospital had lifted his mood.
“It’s wonderful because I was telling the lady early on that I was feeling a bit down this morning since the doctors told me that I could only leave in about 48 hours. My heart was set on leaving today. So I was down this morning but when people came to sing, it all made me feel very good. They brought the spirit of giving and so on.”
GSH spokesperson Alaric Jacobs said the annual initiative was now in its 11th year and that the hospital was proud to be a part of the project.
“It’s a difficult economic climate. Most of our patients come from poorer areas so it’s important to make that difference in the community. A lot of these people are sick and have been at the hospital for long periods. They can’t provide for their people at home anyway,” Jacobs said.
“It’s a privilege for the hospital and for me to be part of this project where I can see the difference we’re making. It’s a touching moment for the staff as well because they can see and are proud of the hospital making a difference in the lives of the patients.”
GSH Hospital Facility Board (HFB) manager Shanaaz Dove said the project is by the HFB. According to the GSHFB website, the purpose of the board is to ensure accountability of the health facility management to the community and responsiveness to the needs of hospital patients and their families.
Dove said: “Many of GSH’s patients spend the holiday season in hospital and many of our patients don’t even receive visitors, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring some good cheer to them, which will also help in their healing process and just general morale boosting things. It’s an annual event which we try to uphold with generous sponsors.
“The economic climate nowadays, donors are kind of dwindling, but the board still felt it was an important thing to continue so we’ve packed 800 parcels over the past three days.”