Kayunga Hospital private wing lies idle 3 years after renovation

A general view of the Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital main gate on May 5, 2022. PHOTO/FRED MUZAALE 

What you need to know:

  • Authorities say Kayunga Hospital currently has about 120 medical staff instead of the required 500.

A multi-million private wing at Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital in Kayunga District has been lying idle, three years after it was refurbished.

Authorities at the facility say the 50-year-old hospital’s private wing lacks medical specialists to work in the section.

 Kayunga Hospital Principal Administrator Louis Muhindo told this publication that the private wing which has 25 beds was established during the recent renovation that sought to expand the hospital to offer special medical services to patients who can afford its demands.

“The private wing is already equipped with crucial medical equipment and we are just waiting for the health service commission to give us specialists so that we open it,” Muhindo noted.

“We are not certain when the private unit will be operational because that would depend on when we get the manpower,” he added as he highlighted that a delay in opening has “forced hundreds of patients to seek special services in private medical facilities in Kampala and elsewhere where they are charged exorbitant fees.”

Dr Robert Ssentongo, the hospital director also revealed that lack of a hospital board, which was, however, sworn-in recently was also partly to blame for the private wing’s failed operation.

“There are many critical decisions which the hospital board has to make like how much is to be charged and for what service at the private wing. But now that the board is in place, we hope that all this would be sorted and we open it,” Dr Ssentongo told this reporter.

Further, Muhindo said four critical units at the regional referral government hospital are currently not fully operational due to lack of qualified medical staff.

Authorities say Kayunga Hospital currently has about 120 medical staff instead of the required 500.

According to Muhindo, the units not operating at full capacity include the accident and emergency, which was added to the facility upon its expansion and elevation to a regional referral status, while the physiotherapy unit and Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) units are also dead.

“The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is still operational with only four medical staff trained to handle patients, yet it requires at least 15 medical staff as it must for example have an anesthetist, surgeon, pediatric staff and many others,” Muhindo explained.

A medical worker at the Kayunga Hospital who preferred anonymity said the health facility is still operating more like a general hospital.

“Yes, some few things have changed it lacks specialists and some critical medical equipment,” the source said.

Commenting on the claims, Muhindo said they are forced to refer some manageable sick or injured patients to Mulago National Hospital due to lack of a CT-Scan.

About Kayunga Hospital

The hospital is meant to serve central and eastern Uganda districts of Kayunga, Mukono, Buikwe, Nakasongola and Buvuma among others.

But some district hospitals don’t refer patients to the Kayunga Hospital due to transport issues, lack of equipment and preference of better services elsewhere.