UPDF barracks hospitals to be upgraded

HEALTH

MASINDI-The grade four hospitals at the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) barracks in Masindi are destined to be upgraded to a fully-fledged one by Sino hydro as contracted by the government.

This was revealed during the breaking of the ground ceremony by the Chief of Defence Forces General David Muhoozi recently.

"The facility will have a theatre, surgical room, mortuary, incinerator, and a connecting road," revealed Muhoozi. "Like the existing grade four-hospital, it will not only serve the soldiers but people in the entire neighborhood."

He revealed that the good relations between Uganda and China date far back but and are being cemented even more by enabling the construction of the hydropower dam at Karuma.

"Generating 600mw will not only bring the cost of power down but trigger development and industrialisation," stressed Muhoozi.  "Things in the region will never be the same in Masindi when the dam is complete. The school has been rehabilitated as agreed. We expect the hospital to be in use by the time the dam is completed."

The Masindi barracks artillery commander Sam Okiding said the facility handles patients comprising only 30 percent soldiers and 70 percent of civilians.

"I know given the new status it will handle even more patients with common diseases like malaria and sexually transmitted diseases," said Okiding. "This is a new face of the army. We not only have doctors in our ranks but pilots, accountants, engineers, and lawyers."

Okiding asserted that the UPDF, unlike previous armies, is no longer the place to go as a last resort.

"We now recruit brains in addition to physical fitness," said Okiding. "To join UPDF one must be: educated, a Ugandan and healthy."      

 "It was our corporate social responsibility which is destined to cost $1.5m which includes a health facility, a school, and an environment-related venture," said Sino hydro executive project manager, Deng Changy. "The Karuma dam work is 95 percent complete.  Soon the turbines will be generating power. "