Atutur hospital staff decry accommodation shortage
Dr Emmanuel Ongala (left), the Kumi District health officer, interacts with Dr Simon Oluka (right), the medical superintendent of Atutur Hospital, at the facility last week. PHOTO/GEORGE MURON
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Some of the health workers decry the lack of privacy at the facility’s housing units and want the government to intervene.
Health workers in Atutur Hospital, Kumi District, have raised concerns over shortage of accommodation for staff.
They say the accommodation gaps at the facility have forced them to share the available housing units that were designed with a capacity to accommodate one household each.
“Every housing unit has a sitting room and a bedroom. We share a unit because we want to stay within for better service delivery,” one of the nurses, who requested not to be disclosed to speak freely said.
Another health worker said she is staying in one room with her husband and three children.
“There is no privacy in these housing units,” she said.
Dr Simon Oluka, the hospital medical superintendent, said 92 of the 137 staff are sharing 46 housing units that were built in 1969 when the staff were still few.
He said each unit accommodates two staff, whereby one health worker sleeps in the sitting room and the other in a bedroom.
“Our intention is to accommodate as many staff as possible. That’s why we had to force some of our staff to share the available housing units because we wanted them to stay within the facility to provide better health services to the population,” Dr Oluka said.
He said the hospital staff have been complaining that sharing housing units affects their private lives.
He called upon the government and other development partners to help imrove accommodation facilities for the staff in order to boost their morale at work.
The Atutur Sub-county chairperson, Mr Patrick Ekoto, said service delivery is being affected due to inadequate accommodation for the health workers.
He said some health workers are now renting in Kumi Town, approximately 5 kilometres from the hospital, which is located on Soroti-Mbale Road.
He said due to the distance, some of the health workers who rent report late for work, especially when it rains.
A health worker said she spends Shs120,000 monthly on transport to the facility and pays Shs100,000 in rent for a two-roomed house in Kumi Town.
Kumi District health officer (DHO), Dr Emmanuel Ongala, said most health facilities in the country are grappling with inadequate accommodation due to limited funds.
“It’s not only Atutur Hospital, it’s a general problem. We want to build more staff houses but we don’t have enough funds. What we receive for development projects cannot even construct one staff house,” Dr Ongala said.
He said Kumi District has received a development fee of Shs160 million for this financial year to construct of maternity wards at Kanyumu and Agaraia health centre IIIs.
