Entebbe residents can now access the Regional Referral Hospital following its reopening two years after closure.
The outpatient, dental, optical, maternal, and child care departments were closed down in March 2020 to focus on the effective management of COVID-19 patients.
However, in December 2021, Dr. Diana Atwine the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health announced that the ministry could not re-open the hospital at a time other countries were stepping up measures to contain the spread of the Omicron variant that later sparked the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Uganda.
According to Muhammad Mubiru the Principal Hospital Administrator at Entebbe Hospital, the facility has resumed normal operations in most departments including maternity, child health, optical and dental services.
The hospital which was expected to reopen on March 1, did not, due to financial constraints until this week. Management needed 150 Million Shillings for repairs and renovations.
The Chairperson Division A Jane Scholastica Najjemba Baguma,, is excited about the Hospital resuming operations and says that the closure of the facility affected access to health services.
Moses Bayo, a resident of Katabi-Namate village, says it is costly to get treatment from private facilities or public facilities such as Kawempe National Referral Hospital which is over 30km away from Entebbe.
