LIRA– PAG Mission Hospital in Lira City has constructed a modern operating theater to serve people in Lango Sub-region.
The theater, named Dr. Herbert Ros Operating Theater, was constructed with funding from Volksmission e.C, a German-based organisation with an affiliate based in Uganda.
The Shs 600 million facility expected to serve patients better, has three operation rooms, one intensive care unit with four beds, and a recovery room with two beds, according to Akar Allan Solomon, the procurement and logistics officer of the general hospital.
Dr. Dickens Ogwal, the hospital`s medical director explained that all kinds of minor and major surgeries, including orthopedic surgery, will be conducted in the new theater.
According to Ogwal, since 2019, the hospital has been experiencing an increase in the number of patients requiring operation, prompting them to lobby for the construction of the new unit.
The hospital’s records show a total of 234 operations were conducted in 2019/2020, but shot to 694 and 854 in 2020/2021 and 2120/2022, respectively.
Ogwal said the hospital lacks some specialists to attend to patients. “We don’t have all the manpower that is required in terms of specialists for effective health service delivery,” he said during the commissioning of the new facility.
The hospital, according to sources, has 128 health workers and on average it receives 1,100 patients monthly. Officials said 62 more staff are needed to boost service delivery, calling upon to provide more staff and an ambulance.
“We don’t have a functional ambulance because the land rover we were using has outlived its life span. We no longer use it,” Akar added.
The City Principal Medical Officer, Dr. Bernard Otucu said the theater will cut costs incurred by patients as they will not need to go to places like Kumi and Gulu for treatment.
He pledged to offer one of the city’s ambulances to the hospital to ease its operation and transportation of patients.
He urged the hospital leadership to offer affordable services to patients seeking health services in the facility.
The hospital`s Chairperson, Rev. Franco Onaga, said plans were underway to the hospital a center of excellence/model hospital in the provision of health services.
The hospital was established in 1994 as a small clinic under Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau, graduated to a health centre, and was elevated to a General Hospital in 2020.
https://thecooperator.news/regional-hospitals-get-shs-2-1bln-equipment/
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