Kawolo Hospital seeks sh2b for renovation
Feb 23, 2009
A fundraising drive to improve Kawolo Hospital in Mukono district started on Friday with an inter-religious prayer breakfast at the Rider Hotel in Seeta.
By Alex Bukumunhe
A fundraising drive to improve Kawolo Hospital in Mukono district started on Friday with an inter-religious prayer breakfast at the Rider Hotel in Seeta.
The one-week effort is aimed at raising sh2b towards the refurbishment of the hospital.
The prayer breakfast was attended by religious leaders, diplomats, and politicians.
The medical superintendent, Dr. Ivan Kamya, said there was need to revamp the plumbing system, settle the sh34m outstanding electricity debt and renovate hospital blocks and staff quarters.
He said the hospital also needed drugs, staff and modern equipment, adding that they also needed to construct a standard mortuary and a larger out-patient ward.
Kamya said the hospital had incubators that were installed in 1968, adding that when need arises, doctors use electric bulbs to warm the incubators.
He said the hospital handles 80,000 patients per year, yet it received a meager sh280m from the Government.
The religious leaders, who included Pastor Samuel Lwandasa from the Pentecostal churches, Bishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga from the Catholic Church and the district khadi, Sheik Ahmmed Kirega, encouraged the public to contribute towards the cause.
Mukono district chairperson Francis Lukooya Mukoome said the district would use the week to advocate for the transformation of the hospital.
“We want to call upon the Government to subsidise electricity supply to hospitals.
How can a hospital that offers a social welfare service buy electricity at the same rate as business enterprises? If ministries can subsidise the importation of their vehicles, why not utility services for hospitals?†he wondered.
He said the Government also needed to decentralise the development budget for hospitals to enable them improve their welfare.
Because of its location on the accident-prone Kampala-Jinja highway, the hospital handles thousands of accident victims.
A fundraising drive to improve Kawolo Hospital in Mukono district started on Friday with an inter-religious prayer breakfast at the Rider Hotel in Seeta.
The one-week effort is aimed at raising sh2b towards the refurbishment of the hospital.
The prayer breakfast was attended by religious leaders, diplomats, and politicians.
The medical superintendent, Dr. Ivan Kamya, said there was need to revamp the plumbing system, settle the sh34m outstanding electricity debt and renovate hospital blocks and staff quarters.
He said the hospital also needed drugs, staff and modern equipment, adding that they also needed to construct a standard mortuary and a larger out-patient ward.
Kamya said the hospital had incubators that were installed in 1968, adding that when need arises, doctors use electric bulbs to warm the incubators.
He said the hospital handles 80,000 patients per year, yet it received a meager sh280m from the Government.
The religious leaders, who included Pastor Samuel Lwandasa from the Pentecostal churches, Bishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga from the Catholic Church and the district khadi, Sheik Ahmmed Kirega, encouraged the public to contribute towards the cause.
Mukono district chairperson Francis Lukooya Mukoome said the district would use the week to advocate for the transformation of the hospital.
“We want to call upon the Government to subsidise electricity supply to hospitals.
How can a hospital that offers a social welfare service buy electricity at the same rate as business enterprises? If ministries can subsidise the importation of their vehicles, why not utility services for hospitals?†he wondered.
He said the Government also needed to decentralise the development budget for hospitals to enable them improve their welfare.
Because of its location on the accident-prone Kampala-Jinja highway, the hospital handles thousands of accident victims.