By Naledi Nyoni
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s largest private hospital, The Avenues Clinic, is at the centre of a spiralling healthcare crisis after it forcibly shut down its radiology department — leaving patients without access to emergency and life-saving diagnostic services.
The unit, which had been operated for more than 25 years by Baines Imaging Group (BIG), was abruptly closed over the Heroes Day weekend in a dramatic takeover that has sent shockwaves through the medical sector.
BIG, in a strongly worded statement on Monday, slammed the development as “illegal and dangerous,” warning that critically ill patients are now paying the price for what appears to be a corporate power struggle inside one of Zimbabwe’s most vital medical institutions.
The closure was carried out with brute force. According to BIG, bouncers stormed the department and physically removed its staff and management — an incident reported to Harare Central Police under case number IR181907.
“Bouncers were used to physically remove BIG staff and management from these premises during Heroes weekend.
This violent and illegal action was reported by BIG to Harare Central Police under case IR181907,” the group stated.
The Avenues Clinic, run by Medical Investments Limited, is accused of acting on the strength of a disputed arbitration award without securing the necessary court order. Instead, BIG alleges, the hospital disguised the closure as a “stock take and asset verification,” shutting the unit for more than five working days and disrupting urgent patient care.
“Avenues Clinic (Medical Investments Limited) are basing this action on a disputed arbitration award without considering public welfare,” BIG said.
Healthcare experts say the standoff has immediate life-threatening consequences.
Radiology is a critical backbone of modern medicine, underpinning emergency surgeries, cancer treatment, cardiac care, and trauma response.
With the unit shut down, patients are being forced to seek services elsewhere — often at great cost and delay.
The dispute has raised alarm over corporate governance at The Avenues Clinic, which markets itself as the nation’s leading private emergency and critical care facility.
The use of hired muscle to forcibly take over a life-saving department has drawn comparisons to political thuggery rather than medical management.
As the legal wrangle deepens, thousands of patients who rely on the hospital remain exposed, with lives on the line in what is now one of Zimbabwe’s most dangerous healthcare scandals in recent years.
