Scottish Livingstone Hospital - Molepolole - Botswana

Scottish Livingstone Hospital . The district hospital is situated in Kweneng District in Molepolole in the southern part of Botswana, approximately 60 km from Gaborone. The village has a population of approximately 70, 000 and acts as a a gate way to the Kalahari Desert. 

Scottish Livingstone Hospital, also known as Molepolole Hospital, is a government-run district hospital located in Molepolole, Botswana, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Gaborone.

The hospital was built in 1933 by the United Free Church of Scotland. It opened the following year on 3 September, and Dr Sheppard was the first doctor. At the time, the hospital only held 20 beds.

Facilities
In order to combat the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, the government opened a new hospital building in November 2007. The new building, built by Arup, hosts 350 beds and features high-tech heating and cooling systems.

The hospital houses an Infections Disease Care Clinic that offers antiretroviral therapy. Most of the doctors speak only English while the patients speak mostly Setswana. Thus, medical care is usually given through a translator. The amount of doctors and medical equipment is limited: There is only one x-ray machine and no radiologist. There are long wait times to see a doctor, and the obstetrics department is mostly run by midwives.