Yumbe hospital operating without funding

Yumbe  hospital operating without funding

BY  ROBERT ELEMA

Yumbe hospital that was upgraded to a regional referral hospital has commenced operations without funding from the central government.

The Shs60b hospital with a 100-bed capacity was built in 1969.

Having received funding from the Arab Bank for development in Africa, Saudi fund for development in Africa and Opec fund for international development the facility has been undergoing rehabilitation and expansion since 2017.

On January 9, President Museveni commissioned the Yumbe Reginal Referral Hospital after completion of the project.

Speaking during the opening of the facility at the weekend, Dr Alfred Yayi, the Yumbe District health officer, said they require about Shs10b to operate normally.

“We have done costings, the wage bill requires about Shs10b and Shs6b for non-wage operations,” Dr Yayi revealed.

On May 26, Daily Monitor reported about the uncertainty of the hospital receiving funding this financial year since no allocation was directed to this cause.

“We hope that something will be done so that services can run as expected because without resources, we may not utilise all the investments here,” Dr Yayi added.

Operationalisation of Yumbe hospital comes as a great relief since resources at Arua Regional Referral hospital are overstretched by the overwhelming number of patients including South Sudan and Congolese refugees.

 Dr Yayi revealed that they have recalled the general hospital staff deployed at the three health centre IV’s where some hospital services were transferred to start the regional referral hospital.

He however added that the facility needs about 534 staff, a number that was approved by public service.

Mr Abdulmutwalib Asiku, the district chairperson. Said the hospital also urgently needs a regional blood bank, oxygen production plant, advanced imaging block and  ENT/eye clinic.

Also needed, Mr Aisku said is the  mental health department and a health training institution.

“These are facilities that can conclusively qualify a facility to be called a regional referral hospital but without funding, how do we start?” he asked.

The Aringa North MP, Mr Godfrey Onzima, said the lack of funding for the regional referral hospital took them by surprise.

“All the recommendations were done and Ministry of Finance wrote to us that according to the conditions, there was no way the hospital can not be upgraded to a regional referral hospital. I was surprised when the Yumbe leaders called me saying they were told to budget for the facility as a general hospital,” he said.

Mr Onzima said  there are plans to allocate the facility funds since  a team from ministry of Finance carried out  an assessment  and all the recommendations were cleared.

Ms Caroline Angolere, the Yumbe Resident District Commissioner, urged government to consider the pleas of the people.

“If we have put up such excellent structures, it means we should continue to support the people to access quality service,” Ms Angolere said.

“This means that even with the equipment that we have, if we don’t have resources for routine maintenance and sustainability the essence of  borrowing money loses meaning. The funds spent on upgrading the hospital was not a grant but a loan which we are going to pay back through paying taxes,” she added.

Speaking to Daily Monitor on phone earlier, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the  senior public relations officer at  Ministry of Health,  said: “Operationalisation of the regional referral hospital requires additional health workers, consultants and all these require funds which I think will be captured in the next financial year.”