Specialized Equipment at Kisoro Hospital to reduce Referrals by 50%

By Alex Gahima

Kisoro District Hospital has received its first Ventilator and Patient Monitor valued at 300 million Ugandan shillings.

The highly specialized equipment is part of a pilot program by Government, to improve capacity building capabilities at district hospital level as opposite to having all Intensive Care Units (ICU) at regional referral hospitals.

Kisoro district often refers its critical patients to Kabale and Mbarara regional referral hospitals.

Son of the soil from Busanza Sub County and Associate Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at Makerere University Dr. Arthur Kwizera says plans to acquire and deliver the highly specialized equipment for the district hospital, started back in 2021.

Dr. Kwizera says Kisoro district hospital is one of the first districts to benefit from this project.

Dr. Arthur Kwizera is a member of the Ugandan Ministry of Health scientific Advisory Committee for COVID-19 and chairs a committee tasked with developing the National Intensive Care Strategic Plan to guide the expansion of Uganda’s intensive care capacity to at least 4,000 ICU beds.

“With this equipment at Kisoro hospital, it will be possible to reduce maternal mortality rates by 50%, accident cases will be better managed however we need to build capacity for the right people to use the equipment, Kwizera explained

Ministry of Health representative Dr. Michael Baganizi, who formerly served as Kisoro district Medical Superintendent (M.S) says the machine will reduce the frequency of referrals to Kabale and Mbarara which is too expensive.

According to Dr. Baganizi, efforts to evacuate critical patients to Kabale or Mbarara regional referral hospitals is not always convenient because it requires a lot of finances.

Kisoro district acting Medical Superintendent Dr. Rukunda Benon thanked Dr. Arthur Kwizera for his visionary thinking as well as remembering his home area. He explained that the machine is so vital in handling emergency cases which are so common in the district.

Dr. Rukunda called on the district to avail more staff who are trained to operate the machine effectively.

Assistant district Health Officer (ADHO) Annet Dusabe pledged to support the hospital with staff who have been trained at St. Francis, Mutolere Nursing School.