The ministry of Health has revealed it is financially incapacitated to proceed with the construction of a Shs 33 billion maternal and child health complex at Hoima regional referral hospital, nearly two years after the project was launched.
Construction of the complex, contracted to the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), the commercial arm of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was officially launched in August 2023. However, no physical work has begun, and the site remains abandoned.
The hospital continues to grapple with extreme congestion, having already demolished its maternity, gynaecology, and paediatric wards to pave way for the project.
According to hospital management, the planned four-storeyed facility would house a neonatal unit, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology wards, an operating theatre, and a laboratory. The government initially released Shs 1.15 billion to begin foundation works for a 120-bed facility.
However, due to growing healthcare demand in the region, the project scope was revised to accommodate 250 beds, requiring a new design and significantly more funding. To date, no additional funds have been released.
Officials from NEC say the Shs 1.15 billion on hand is insufficient to even begin laying the foundation, and the money remains unused in their account. Health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has acknowledged the ministry’s inability to finance the project immediately, citing severe financial constraints.
She noted that the government may have to seek a special loan to fund the construction, warning that the process could take time.
“Many of you are aware that that complex was dilapidated, but it was not right to throw it down. The right thing to have been done was to identify another site but keep this one, accommodating patients as we put up another one. But now we threw it down and our patients are in the rain and yet the donors have gone,” Aceng said.
“Are you aware the donors have gone? So now the little money we have, we have to share. This is why we started a foundation and we shall be putting in that foundation but it will take time. But we’re committed to ensure that that complex comes up. Every year we shall do something. I’m only hoping that government will take a decision to get a loan because it is only a loan can take us very quickly to recover and ensure that the patients are well accommodated. ”
Following the demolition, hospital services have been severely disrupted. According to Dr Ibrahim Bwaga, the acting hospital director, the children’s ward has been relocated to the former antenatal building, antenatal services moved to the immunization room, and immunizations now take place on the veranda.
The gynaecology department currently shares space with the eye care unit. The neonatal ward was shifted to the former maternity waiting room, which has now been squeezed into the outpatient department (OPD).
Serving an estimated 3.5 million people across nine districts including Hoima, Buliisa, Kiryandongo, Kakumiro, Kagadi, Kibaale, Masindi, Kikuube, and Hoima city, the hospital receives 800 to 1,000 patients daily, including refugees from Kyangwali and Kiryandongo settlements, as well as patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This has placed an immense strain on the hospital’s already limited resources, including medicines, ward space, and blood supplies. Established in 1910 by British American Tobacco as a dispensary, Hoima hospital became a district hospital in 1935, and was elevated to a regional referral hospital in 2004.