Adjumani waits on Shs1.6 billion ICU
The state of works at the ICU being constructed at Adjumani hospital as of on Sunday. PHOTO/ MARKO TAIBOT
What you need to know:
This is because patients are currently incurring high costs seeking ICU services outside the district
Adjumani District leaders are looking forward to the timely completion of the construction of the Shs1.6 billion Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Adjumani Hospital.
This is because patients seeking ICU services at the facility are currently being referred to Gulu’s St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu Regional Referral hospital or Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala.
The ICU facility at Adjumani hospital is being constructed under the Development Response to Displacement Impact Projects (DRDIP).
The chairperson of the Community Procurement Management Committee (CPMC) in Adjumani Town Council, Mr Stephen Okomi, at the weekend said they are closely monitoring the construction works to ensure that the facility is completed in time.
“We are very happy about the progress of the work. This is our first priority among other pressing issues such as a staff house and a mortuary. But we want to ensure that the work is done thoroughly so that we relieve our patients of expensive referral services in Mulago or in Gulu,” he said.
The construction, which began in March, is supposed to take six months.
The district health officer, Dr Dominic Drametu, observed that the construction of the ICU will be a life-serving facility for the area, which has been grappling with lack of ICU units for many years, which has led to loss of lives.
“The Intensive Care Unit facility once completed will be fully equipped with 4 specialised beds, six high dependent beds, monitors, ventilators, an oxygen plant, and stable and sustainable power,” Dr Drametu said.
He added that the hospital currently has only four Neonatal Care Unit beds.
“Once completed, we expect recruitment of emergency care doctors such as surgeons, and physicians. And we are going to do internal training of the existing nurses and doctors to start work in the new facility once it is completed,” Dr Drametu said.
Work is being undertaken by Zawadi Construction Company Llimited and the site engineer, Mr Willison Adracha, confirmed that the work is now at beam level, adding that they expect to complete the work within the time allocated. The DRDIP desk officer, Mr Abubakar Gulam, said the ICU facility is one of the projects the district is implementing of the 27 infrastructure sub-projects under the 7th disbursement of the programme in host communities and refugee settlements.
Mr Gulam revealed that the 27 sub-projects have a total value of Shs14 billion and all have a completion timeline of six months, which marks the end of the first phase of DRDIP.
Background
Statistics from the Development Response to Displacement Impact Projects (DRDIP) office, indicate that Adjumani district has already benefited from 364 projects. These includes 56 infrastructural projects, 155 projects in the environment, and 155 in livelihood.
