Shs5b ICU remains idle in Jinja hospital 8 years later

Facility. An Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Mulago National Referral Hospital. The ICU at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital remains idle, eight years since it was commissioned. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA

What you need to know:

  • Mr Warren Wabulembo, the assistant medical superintendent at Farnfiled Medical Centre in Njeru, Buikwe District, said those with acute sickness, respiratory distress problems, hypertension and other medical conditions are usually referred for further management.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital remains non-functional, eight years since it was commissioned.
The ICU is a special department of a hospital that provides treatment for patients with severe sickness or life-threatening illnesses that require close monitoring by highly trained nurses and physicians.
Sources within the hospital, who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to comment on the matter, at the weekend said the equipment had overstayed without being used and got damaged.

“When patients are referred here, we also refer them to Mulago for further management. However, some caretakers opt to take their patients to Nile International Hospital, a private facility in Jinja District,” the source said.
The 13-bed facility, fully equipped with a computer monitoring system, was constructed with assistance from ASSIST International, a United States-based non-governmental organisation.

It was commissioned in 2011 to decongest Mulago National Referral Hospital and was expected to serve patients from the eastern region.
The Jinja hospital director, Dr Edward Nkurunziza, said workers are there but ever since the facility was commissioned, it has never been functional.
“At the time it was commissioned, the unit lacked an anaesthesiologist and nurses were trained to attend to patients; later, the machines became nonfunctional because they had overstayed without being used,” Dr Nkurunziza said.
He said patients have since been referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital.

“We cannot admit any patient at the unit because the system is down. Jinja hospital has never had functional ICU and we don’t have a budget for it at the moment; however, we are working on it,” he added.
Dr Nkurunziza was noncommittal on how much it would take to fix the facility, but confirmed that plans are underway to rectify it.
Mr Warren Wabulembo, the assistant medical superintendent at Farnfiled Medical Centre in Njeru, Buikwe District, said those with acute sickness, respiratory distress problems, hypertension and other medical conditions are usually referred for further management.
Mr Charles Olum, a resident of Jinja, said it is unfortunate that the facility is not working and blamed government for allegedly failing to supervise such places.

“There should be a policy put in place to ensure that such facilities work to save the lives of people, most especially the locals who cannot meet private hospital bills,” Mr Olum said.
Mr Yusuf Ampaki, whose patient had been referred to the unit from Bugiri hospital, said most patients referred to Jinja end up seeking help from outside the facility.
Ms Monica Achiru, a resident in Jinja, said in August, her patient who was destined for the ICU in Jinja, was advised to proceed to Mulago National Referral Hospital because the facility was not working.