The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, EACOP, has started construction of a 1.9-billion-shilling maternity ward at Mbarara Health Centre II in Kitoba Town Council, Hoima District, in response to growing pressure on the facility.
The project, being implemented by Kaleeta Construction Company Limited, is intended to address the dilapidated and overcrowded state of the existing maternity unit, which currently lacks sufficient space for expectant mothers seeking antenatal and maternity services.
Mbarara Health Centre II serves more than 10,000 people from 16 villages and attends to between 100 and 160 expectant mothers every month. Because of the limited space, expectant mothers and other patients are currently accommodated in the same facility.
The new maternity block is expected to provide dedicated space for a postnatal ward, delivery room, waiting area, female ward and antenatal care services, among other facilities.
Grace Aweko, the officer in charge of Mbarara Health Centre II, said the facility is struggling to cope with the number of patients seeking services. She said the shortage of health workers has further compounded the problem, with only nine staff currently serving at the health centre.
Aweko called on the Ministry of Health to recruit and deploy more health workers to the facility once the new maternity block is completed. Residents say the inadequate maternity facilities have particularly affected expectant mothers.
Proscovia Alinaitwe said overcrowding has been a persistent problem, particularly in the maternity section, and expressed hope that the new building will provide adequate space for mothers and newborns.
Paul Byakagaba, another resident, said the community has repeatedly asked government to upgrade the health centre, increase its medicine budget and ensure that essential drugs are delivered on time.
Lawrence Tumusiime, the Acting Hoima District Health Officer, said the new maternity ward could significantly improve maternal and newborn health services in the area.
However, Tumusiime said the growing workload means the health centre should be upgraded from a Health Centre II to a Health Centre III.
He said the facility is already handling a substantial number of maternity cases, despite the limitations of a Health Centre II, which does not have qualified doctors to manage complicated deliveries.
Tumusiime’s call highlights a broader challenge facing the facility: expanding infrastructure alone may not be sufficient unless the health centre also receives additional staff, medicines and the capacity required to handle complicated cases.
EACOP Managing Director Guillaume Dulout said pregnant women should not have to travel long distances to access antenatal and maternal health services. He said the new facility will bring maternal and other critical health services closer to communities in the area.
Pius Wakabi, the Member of Parliament for Bugahya County, meanwhile raised concern about teenage pregnancy in the area. Wakabi said health centre management had informed him that a significant number of the expectant mothers seeking services at the facility are teenagers.
He appealed to parents to protect girls from early pregnancy and ensure that they remain in school. Uthman Kadir Mugisa, the Hoima District LC5 Chairperson, said several health facilities in the district are facing similar pressure from rising patient numbers, staff shortages and inadequate supplies of medicines.
He said the district lacks sufficient financial resources to address all the challenges facing its health facilities. Johnbosco Ssenkimpi, the project’s site engineer, said construction of the maternity ward is expected to take six months. He pledged that the contractor would complete the project within the agreed timeframe.
The maternity ward is expected to provide additional space for maternal and newborn services once completed, while district health authorities continue to push for the broader upgrading of the health centre to match the population and workload it is already serving-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
