A Princess decrowned, a glory faded :: Mmegi Online

Mothers and their newborns sleep on the floor, sharing a congested room with others, coughing and sweating the night away. Patients in all forms of discomfort lie on hospital stretchers in corridors, others resigned to sitting on the floor, forlorn looks on their faces. This is Princess Marina Hospital, a 48-year-old institution whose glory has faded over the decades. Mmegi writers, MPHO MOKWAPE & NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE report

From its establishment as one of the first landmarks in the fledgling capital, Princess Marina Hospital has watched as the city burgeoned around it.

From a population of 5,000 people at Independence, the city now has more than 300,000 residents with an ever-deepening complexity of health care needs, over and above epidemics such as HIV/AIDS. Princess Marina’s age can be seen in that when it was established, the capital city was still known as Gaberones, a colonial misspelling of the word Gaborone, which would be adopted two years after the hospital opened its doors.

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