Mulago to hire out mortuary
Feb 18, 2007
Mulago hospital is to engage a private firm to manage its mortuary.<br>The national referral hospital, a source said, lacks the capacity to run the vital facility.
By Josephine Maseruka
Mulago hospital is to engage a private firm to manage its mortuary.
The national referral hospital, a source said, lacks the capacity to run the vital facility.
The hospital director, Dr. Edward Ddumba, yesterday admitted that the issue was being considered, but added that it was in its preliminary stage.
He declined to disclose the details.
A source added that the hospital’s top managers argued that managing the mortuary was not their core responsibility.
Sources at Mulago said the 10-year-old Uganda Funeral Services is top on the list of private companies eying the mortuary deal.
A source said the company was already discussing the deal with the hospital.
But the company managers could neither confirm nor deny that they were interested in running the mortuary.
The hospital spokesperson, Elphaz Ssekabira, was quoted in the press as saying that negotiations with the Uganda Funeral Services were at an advanced stage and that a deal would be concluded next week.
The head of the pathology department at Makerere University, G.S. Bimenya, requested for an urgent notification for the hire of the mortuary so that the deal is not concluded through the ‘back door’.
Bodies are kept in the cold stores of the mortuary before they are taken for burial. On special request, they are treated (embalmed).
Officials at Mulago said privatising the mortuary would increase the hospital’s revenue. They believe that the move will also improve on the quality of services offered.
Mulago hospital is to engage a private firm to manage its mortuary.
The national referral hospital, a source said, lacks the capacity to run the vital facility.
The hospital director, Dr. Edward Ddumba, yesterday admitted that the issue was being considered, but added that it was in its preliminary stage.
He declined to disclose the details.
A source added that the hospital’s top managers argued that managing the mortuary was not their core responsibility.
Sources at Mulago said the 10-year-old Uganda Funeral Services is top on the list of private companies eying the mortuary deal.
A source said the company was already discussing the deal with the hospital.
But the company managers could neither confirm nor deny that they were interested in running the mortuary.
The hospital spokesperson, Elphaz Ssekabira, was quoted in the press as saying that negotiations with the Uganda Funeral Services were at an advanced stage and that a deal would be concluded next week.
The head of the pathology department at Makerere University, G.S. Bimenya, requested for an urgent notification for the hire of the mortuary so that the deal is not concluded through the ‘back door’.
Bodies are kept in the cold stores of the mortuary before they are taken for burial. On special request, they are treated (embalmed).
Officials at Mulago said privatising the mortuary would increase the hospital’s revenue. They believe that the move will also improve on the quality of services offered.