YUMBE, UGANDA: Yumbe Regional Referal Hospital is struggling to provide services to patients amidst an acute shortage of essential staff, more than a year after its elevation from a general hospital. Located in Kuru Town council, the facility was elevated to a referral hospital in 2020 following its renovation with support from Government and donors.
Currently, the hospital has about 100 staff far below the required number of 534. The hospital has continued to offer mainly outpatient, maternity and emergency services, amidst the limited number of specialists.
According to the locals who seek services at the facility, the hospital continues referring patients to Arua regional referral hospital due to lack of specialised personnel. Siraj Juma Adisha, the LC1 chairperson of Enviveya cell in Kuru town council says that access to quality service at the facility is a big challenge owing to staffing challenges.
Zainab Faima, a resident of the Lodonga sub-county, says that many patients always struggle to reach Arua hospital due to the high cost of transport.
Dr. Patrick Olwedo, the Director of Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital confirmed the challenge of staff shortage noting that the situation worsened after a number of staff decided to join the Local Government after getting promotions. According to Dr. Olwedo, there is need to immediately bridge the staffing gap in light of the increasing number of patients seeking services at the facility.
Yumbe referral hospital, which has 300 beds receives patients from the neighboring districts of Moyo, Koboko, Obongi and as far as South Sudan.
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