Butambala leaders clash over Gombe Hospital management

Butambala.

A row has erupted among local leaders in Butambala District over the management of Gombe Hospital, the only major health facility in the area.
Although the Butambala District chairperson, Mr Godfrey Bavekuno Mafumu, defends operations of the current hospital management, some leaders led by the Resident District Commissioner, Mr Fred Bamwine, say the team has run down the institution.
Mr Bamwine claims that the hospital medical director, Dr Samuel Ssekamatte, has ‘personalised’ everything at the facility, paralysing its normal operations.
“The deteriorating state of our regional referral hospital is blamed on him (Dr Ssekamate). We shall not allow the ongoing mismanagement to continue. The way funds are handled is questionable and everything is a mess,” Mr Bamwine said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Mr Bamwine said he first received complaints about alleged hospital mismanagement from some patients, who were admitted to the facility but failed to receive proper treatment.
“They were told to go to the nearby private clinics to buy drugs claiming that there were no drugs at the facility. So, this prompted me to write to the Ministry of Health and copied in officials at the State House Health Monitoring Unit to intervene,” he said.
He said he received feedback with government sending a one Dr Julian Nabatanzi (the deputy executive director of the Health Monitoring Unit at State House) and a team of investigators, who spent three days in the district investigating the matter.
“Her (Dr Nabatanzi) findings exposed a lot of rot in management of the hospital. She found out that 74 per cent of the drugs are stolen by staff and put in their private clinics and pharmacies. Her findings also implicated a store manager, who has since gone into hiding. We are now waiting for a full report with recommendations to see what action to take,” Mr Bamwine.
Recently, a Turkey-based organisation, Doctors Worldwide, funded the renovation of a children’s ward aiming at improving health standards at the facility, but its ceiling caved in after completion injuring 11patients.
But Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the Butambala County Member of Parliament, blamed the hospital management for failing to supervise the project.
Mr Kivumbi said when he paid an abrupt visit to the facility recently, he discovered that the walls had cracks and cobweb, and a foul smell was emanating from some of the wards.
“Patients are at a great risk of contracting diseases because of the poor sanitary management at the facility. Let the government intervene and do something at Gombe Hospital.” Mr Kivumbi said.
But Mr Mafumu, in his defence, however, says the situation at the hospital is not as threatening as portrayed by some local leaders.
“We have come from very far and the health standards are improving by the day. Do not take those rumors,” he said.
He said the district is in the process of hiring a private security firm to monitor those who enter and move out of the hospital to curb drug theft at the facility.
Mr Mafumu also revealed that the district has constructed a modern waterborne toilet and they have also earmarked Shs700m for the renovation of the Out Patient Department ward.
“We are not seated, more than Shs300m will be injected in renovating the maternity ward, construction of a perimeter fence around the hospital. Besides that, we have already put up a water pump,” he said.
Mr Mafumu added: “Our total budget is Shs20.6b and once we secure those funds, our hospital will become one of the best health facilities in the country.”
When contacted, Dr Ssekamatte said: “My friend, I cannot tell you anything about Gombe Hospital. Do not put me in trouble.”
Prof Joseph Nsereko, the chairperson of the hospital management committee, blamed the mess at the facility on financial constraints.
“If you visit that hospital, you can visibly see that all the structures need repair. They are very old and require major renovations,” Prof Nsereko said.
Gombe Hospital, which has a bed capacity of 200, was constructed in 1969 and is the main public hospital in the Greater Mpigi area.