Construction of UGX 33Bn Maternal and Child Health Complex at Hoima RRH Stalls

The construction of a Shillings 33 billion maternal and child health complex at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital has stalled. Construction of the facility commenced in August 2023, with the contract awarded to the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), the business arm of the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF). 

According to the hospital management, once completed, the facility would house the Neonatal Unit, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology wards, an operating theatre, and a laboratory. However, two years down the road, construction has not started. 

The site remains abandoned, while the hospital continues to struggle with severe congestion. Before the launch of the project, the government had released Shillings 1.15 billion to kick-start the works. Uganda Radio Network (URN) visited the construction site and found it overgrown with bushes. 

Part of the iron sheets surrounding the land had collapsed, and there were no signs of construction materials such as sand or bricks at the site. A source at the hospital told URN that the initial Shillings 1.15 billion was meant to begin the foundation of a 120-bed capacity complex. However, the plan was later revised to accommodate a 250-bed facility due to rising demand for health services in the region. 

This change required a new design and plan, but no additional funds have been released since then. Dr. Ibrahim Bwaga, the acting director of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, told URN that after the design was changed, the contractor revealed that the Shillings 1.15 billion initially released could not even complete the foundation. “The contractor is currently stuck with the money on their account,” Bwaga said. He added that since then, they have repeatedly asked the government to release more funds to continue the project, but their pleas have gone unanswered.

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Following the launch of the project in August 2023, the contractor was allowed to demolish all structures housing the maternity, gynaecology, and paediatric wards to make space for the new four-story facility. Since then, the hospital has been grappling with severe congestion. 

Bwaga noted that they receive between 30 to 50 mothers giving birth daily, alongside other patients, but the hospital has limited resources, including only four beds in the theatre, posing significant risks to patients in critical condition. 

“There is a need for immediate government intervention to have the new maternity complex constructed to solve the issue of congestion,” he emphasized. With the maternity section demolished, the children’s ward was relocated to the former antenatal building, and antenatal services were moved to the immunization room. This forced the hospital to conduct immunization services under the veranda. 

A source at the hospital also revealed that the gynaecology department now shares space with the eye care unit, the neonatal ward was pushed to the maternity waiting room, and the maternity waiting room was shifted to the outpatient department (OPD).

Samuel Opio Acuti, the deputy chairperson of the Health Committee of Parliament, has called for immediate government intervention to provide more funding so that construction of the maternal complex can commence and decongest the facility.

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Dr. Joseph Ruyonga, the chairperson of the Health Committee of Parliament, said the committee will immediately present a report to Parliament to ensure that funds are allocated to restart the construction of the multi-billion facility.

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Badru Mugabi, the Hoima Resident City Commissioner (RCC), noted that inadequate funding to Hoima Regional Referral Hospital is frustrating the delivery of quality health services. 

Hoima Regional Referral Hospital serves a population of 3.5 million people from nine districts, including Hoima, Buliisa, Kiryandongo, Kakumiro, Kagadi, Kibaale, Masindi, Kikuube, and Hoima City.

The hospital receives between 800 to 1,000 patients daily, including refugees from Kyangwali and Kiryandongo settlement areas and patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This places an immense burden on its already inadequate resources, including medicines, ward space, and blood supplies.

British American Tobacco established Hoima Regional Referral Hospital in 1910 as a dispensary. In 1935, it was elevated to a district hospital, and in 2004, it was upgraded to a regional referral hospital. .