Leaders want health centre elevated, named after Nyombi

Nakasongola. Authorities in Nakasongola District have asked government to elevate Nakasongola Health Centre IV to a hospital status in memory of former Attorney General, Peter Nyombi, who died on October 7.
He was also former MP for Buruuli County in Nakasongola District.

Both Nakasongola County MP Nuwa Mutebi Wanzala and Nakasongola District chairperson Samuel Kigula want government to use the demise of Nyombi to address the plight of Nakasongola residents who have no referral health facility.
The residents rely on the facility, which is also overwhelmed by high patient turn up each day, including accident victims from the Kampala–Gulu highway.

“The only referral facility is the health centre IV in Nakasongola Town Council. This facility is ill equipped to handle all the referrals from the lower health facilities in the eight sub-counties,” Mr Mutebi told the Daily Monitor in an interview on Sunday.

He added: “Our appeal is directed to the higher offices through the Health ministry. We want this facility to stand out in memory of our fallen son, Peter Nyombi.”

“When we talk about bringing services nearer to the people, the health component must be among the top priority areas. We believe elevating Nakasongola Health Centre IV to a district hospital will be among the greatest gifts the people of Nakasongola can have in memory of Peter Nyombi. I believe the move by the district leaders is genuine,” the Nakasongola County MP said.
Mr Kigula said all efforts are being made to boost the health service sector with the latest being the advocacy programme to have the Nakasongola Health Centre IV elevated to a hospital status.

“It is true that Nakasongola Health Centre IV is backed up by the health centre IIIs and health centre IIs at the sub-county level but the referral system cannot be effectively perfected without a hospital to manage the referral cases,” Mr Kigula said.
He explained that the nearest hospitals, including Kiryandongo and Kiwoko Missionary, are about 64kms and 36kms away respectively, which makes it difficult for ordinary residents to go there.

Dr Agaba Byamukama, the district health officer, said the district has several lower health units supervised by the district local government under the department of Health services but Nakasongola would be best served if the government upgrades the health centre IV facility to a hospital.

The Numbers
Nakasongola health centre IV has an average daily outpatient turn up of more than 300 people while the deliveries at the maternity ward is estimated at seven deliveries per day.
The facility has only 40 beds, according to statistics at the district health department.
Nakasongola District has 29 health facilities at various levels. There is one military hospital and one health centre IV.
However, the military hospital is rarely accessed by civilian patients. There are eight health centre IIIs and 19 health centre IIs .

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