Wakiso gets district hospital to improve service delivery

Wakiso District has been approved to get a hospital expected to accommodate overwhelming patient numbers received in need of critical medical treatment.

Wakiso Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Alfred Malinga said he received a formal communication concerning the elevation of Wakiso Health Centre IV to a hospital status from the Ministry of Health (MoH) Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine.

“The PS has formally written to me indicating that the health facility is going to be uplifted to a district level hospital,” he told Monitor on Thursday.

The development comes after the 2022/2023 report from the MoH blamed Wakiso District for poor service delivery and unnecessary referrals to hospitals in Kampala City, including Mulago National Referral Hospital. 

In the subsequent month after releasing the report, two Wakiso Health IV and Namayumba Health Centre officers in charges were interdicted over absenteeism.

Now, Dr Mathias Lugoloobi, officer in charge Wakiso Health Centre IV, said the elevation has been long overdue due to high service demand but it means a lot to the health sector.

“The facility is located in an urban district and situated near Kampala-Hoima Highway. It will be the only one between Mulago and Kiboga District. This will help to decongest the numbers in city hospitals,” he observed.

Dr Lugoloobi said they expect better services including medical supplies and infrastructures.

Without revealing the numbers, he said the health facility could not accommodate all patients in the area before the elevation was announced.

“Some mothers could sleep on floors because of limited beds but this will now become a myth,” Dr Lugoloobi added.

Dr Lugoloobi disclosed that the new hospital setting will have more staffing to supplement the current 51 workers at the facility.

“To meet the demands of our patients currently, each staff member has to work for 24 hours,” he decried.

Wakiso District in Central Buganda is Uganda's most populous district with 3.3 million people, according to 2024 national census data.