No pay, no cure--can our hospitals be salvaged?

One of the worst-affected hospitals is the southern hemisphere’s largest, the sprawling 2 800-bed Chris Hani Baragwanath in Soweto, where nonpayment shortages range from clean bed linen and food to life-saving surgical equipment. Surgeons reached the end of their tether in March when they were unable to order life-saving CT scans and were also forced to risk potentially life-threatening surgical procedures owing to the lack of repair, replacement or supplementation of surgical microscopes, aspirators and drills.