Health
Seven months on, Hoima dialysis keeps patients from Kampala referrals
The hospital director, Dr Ibrahim Bwaga, told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on September 16, 2026, that the facility had not referred dialysis patients to Kampala for the past seven months.
Hoima Regional Referral Hospital has been providing dialysis services for seven months now. (Courtesy photo)
By: John Musenze, Journalist @New Vision
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Seven months after Hoima Regional Referral Hospital began providing dialysis services, patients from the Bunyoro sub-region are no longer being referred to Kampala for the life-sustaining treatment.
The hospital director, Dr Ibrahim Bwaga, told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on September 16, 2026, that the facility had not referred dialysis patients to Kampala for the past seven months.
“For the last seven months, we don't send patients to Kampala anymore for dialysis,” Bwaga told MPs.
The development follows the opening of a dedicated dialysis unit at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital in August 2025, initially equipped with three dialysis machines to serve patients from Hoima and the wider Bunyoro sub-region.
Before the service became available locally, patients requiring regular dialysis had to travel about four-and-a-half hours to Kampala for treatment.
Dialysis is usually required three times a week by patients whose kidneys can no longer adequately remove waste and excess fluid from the blood, making access to a nearby treatment centre particularly important.
At Hoima, a dialysis session costs sh80,000, according to the hospital, compared with about sh150,000 at Mulago National Referral Hospital and sh250,000 to sh450,000 at private dialysis facilities.
For patients requiring repeated sessions, the lower treatment cost can be significant, particularly when transport, food and other expenses associated with travelling to Kampala are added.
Hoima Regional Referral Hospital serves patients from across Bunyoro, including Hoima district and city, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kibaale, Buliisa, Masindi and Kiryandongo.
Dialysis is usually required three times a week by patients whose kidneys can no longer adequately remove waste and excess fluid from the blood, making access to a nearby treatment centre particularly important.
At Hoima, a dialysis session costs sh80,000, according to the hospital, compared with about sh150,000 at Mulago National Referral Hospital and sh250,000 to sh450,000 at private dialysis facilities.
For patients requiring repeated sessions, the lower treatment cost can be significant, particularly when transport, food and other expenses associated with travelling to Kampala are added.
Hoima Regional Referral Hospital serves patients from across Bunyoro, including Hoima district and city, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kibaale, Buliisa, Masindi and Kiryandongo.
The dialysis service is part of the hospital’s broader expansion of specialised care as the region experiences rapid economic and population growth, partly linked to developments in the oil and gas sector.
Bwaga said the hospital has also established a regional blood bank, installed an oxygen plant and expanded critical-care services, including a 12-bed intensive care unit.
However, the expansion of specialised services comes as the hospital continues to face staffing shortages.
According to the Auditor General’s 2024/25 audit report, the hospital had 345 staff against an approved establishment of 1,247, leaving it operating at about 28% of its approved staffing level.
Bwaga told MPs that the hospital currently has 12 intensive-care nurses who have received specialised training in Lagos, Nigeria, and one intensivist against a staffing requirement of three.
“The Health Service Commission is conducting interviews to recruit the remaining two intensivists,” he said.
Bwaga said the hospital has also established a regional blood bank, installed an oxygen plant and expanded critical-care services, including a 12-bed intensive care unit.
However, the expansion of specialised services comes as the hospital continues to face staffing shortages.
According to the Auditor General’s 2024/25 audit report, the hospital had 345 staff against an approved establishment of 1,247, leaving it operating at about 28% of its approved staffing level.
Bwaga told MPs that the hospital currently has 12 intensive-care nurses who have received specialised training in Lagos, Nigeria, and one intensivist against a staffing requirement of three.
“The Health Service Commission is conducting interviews to recruit the remaining two intensivists,” he said.