Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital has reopened two years after it was closed.
The hospital closed the outpatient, dental, optical, maternal, and child care departments in March 2020 to focus on the effective management of COVID-19 patients.
In December, Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health noted 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.
Muhammad Mubiru, the Principal Hospital Administrator at Entebbe Hospital, says the facility has resumed normal operations in most departments namely maternity, child health, optical and dental services.
The hospital was expected to reopen on March 1, but due to financial constraints, it was postponed to this week. Management needed 150 Million Shillings for repairs and renovations.
Jane Scholastica Najjemba Baguma, the Chairperson Division A, is excited about the Hospital resuming operations. Baguma 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.
However, Linda Namusisi is not as excited, saying the service delivery at the hospital was inadequate. She recalls two incidents where her daughter almost died in labour due to negligence and also medics not giving adequate attention to patients who visit the hospital.
Last month, the Hospital discharged its last four COVID-19 patients.