Gulu Referral Hospital Seeks UGX 3b for Completion of Staff Houses

Gulu Regional Referral Hospital management is seeking an estimated 3 billion shillings from the government to expedite the completion of a staff housing Unit.

The government commenced the construction of the 54-housing unit facility in 2014 which is meant to address the accommodation crisis and improve the living standard of staff. However, 10 years later, the facility's construction valued at 6.8 billion shillings is yet to be completed.

Walter Munguriek, the Principal Assistant Secretary of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, says the facility's construction has stalled over the years due to delayed disbursement of funds from the government.

He says the works stalled at 70 percent completion after the Finance Ministry failed to release funds for the past three financial years. 

According to Munguriek, the delays have affected the timeliness of staff to report for duty adding that it also demotivates the staff from working.

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Munguriek says out of the current 300 staff at the Hospital, the majority of them are renting outside the facility which digs deep into their finances due to the high cost of rentals and transport within the city.

He notes that the hospital has many times been incurring costs in transporting the staff from their residents to the facility for those staying far away and working late.

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During the recently concluded first Parliamentary sitting in Gulu City, the Parliamentary Committee on Health recommended that the government should appropriate funds for the hospital at the tune of 3 billion shillings to complete the 54 staffing housing units to solve staffing challenges.

Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti, the Kole North Member of Parliament while presenting the report following an oversight visit by the committee also highlighted the staff challenges Gulu Regional Referral Hospital is facing.

According to the report, most of the key positions at the facility are understaffed. Gulu Regional Referral Hospital currently has 352 staff out of the approved staffing structure of 1,195 representing just 29 percent staffing level.

The Committee’s report highlighted that positions such as that of Senior Consultant had no staff out of the 40 required, while the consultant position had only one staff out of 52 approved. The committee also found that out of the 426 nursing and midwifery staff positions, only 42 were filled.

In its recommendation, the committee urged that the Ministry of Public Service lift the ban to allow districts/cities to recruit according to the available wage.