Private hospitals warned against inflating bills
The Founder of IHK Hospital, Dr Ian Clerk (C )chats with the General Manager of IHK, Mr Joel Oroni (L) and the Chief Executive Officer of St Francis Hospital, Nsambya (R ) during the re-opening of a revamped OPD at IHK on MaRCH 19, 2022. PHOTO BY JANE NAFULA.
What you need to know:
- Available data shows that private health facilities are the first point of consideration and contact for at least 80 per cent of Ugandans seeking healthcare.
Private health care providers have been warned against charging patients exorbitant amounts of money that is not commensurate with the quality of services offered.
International Hospital Kampala (IHK)) board chairman Dr Jeff Sebuyira Mukasa reasoned that “it is pertinent for private health care providers to ensure that patients always get value for money that they pay for different services.”
Available data shows that private health facilities are the first point of consideration and contact for at least 80 per cent of Ugandans seeking healthcare.
Dr Sebuyira was addressing guests during the official re-opening of a re-vamped Out Patient Department (OPD) at IHK in Kampala on March 19.
Hospital authorities say the OPD will also be a point of service for specialities including neurosurgery, ENT surgery, urology, cardiology, nutrition, plastic surgery among others.
Speaking at the same even, Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals Executive Director Dr Denis Kimalyo admitted that “it was hard to control prices in a liberal economy like Uganda’s”
“The association is working with Allied Health Professionals Council, Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to ensure that the quality and cost of services in private health facilities is improved,” he said.
The IHK founder Dr Ian Clerk noted that Uganda should do better regarding healthcare standards.
“Patients always run to Nairobi, South Africa and India to seek medical care. We should change that and move the medical field forward,” Dr Clerk said, months after there was a public outcry that some private hospitals in the country were inflating bills for Covid-19 patients.
In late 2021, private Covid treatment facilities came under fire for charging patients over Shs5million per day.
The Chief Executive Officer of International Medical Group, Mr Sukhmeet Sandhu highlighted the rapid changes in the health sector that require rapid and quality response to save lives.
For the IHK General Manager Joel Oroni, “continuous education and research are key in providing quality healthcare.”
The Director of Medical Services at IHK, Dr Annet Kiyingi Kugonza cautioned masses on Uganda’s disease burden occasioned by diseases such as Stroke, hypertension, diabetes, malaria, respiratory tract infections among others.
