Kataraka Health Centre IV will soon acquire an Outpatient Department (OPD) block as Fort Portal City launches its construction. The facility located at the Central Division is expected to improve healthcare service delivery and reduce congestion at health facilities in the city. The six-hundred-million shillings project, funded by Enable Uganda, will be constructed by Cream General and Technical Services Contractors. The contractors have promised to complete within 12 months.
Speaking during the site handover and launch of the construction works on Thursday, Dr. Fransisco Kaweesi, the In-Charge of Kataraka Health Centre IV, said the facility receives more than 80 outpatients daily but has been struggling with inadequate space, which has affected service delivery. He explained that the current OPD has only two clinical rooms, a laboratory, and a small waiting area, making it difficult to accommodate the growing number of patients and health workers.
Dr. Kaweesi noted that although the facility has acquired modern laboratory equipment, some of it cannot be fully utilised because of limited space. “The current OPD cannot accommodate all clinical officers and patients comfortably. We have equipment that would improve the quality of services, but we have lacked sufficient space to install and operate it effectively,” he said.
According to Dr. Kaweesi, the new OPD block will include clinical rooms, consultation rooms, scan and X-ray rooms, a standard laboratory, storage rooms, and a spacious waiting area for patients. He expressed confidence that the project would significantly improve healthcare services by providing adequate space for patients and health workers while enabling the full utilisation of available medical equipment.
Lawrence Asaba, Senior Building Control Officer for Fort Portal City, said the new OPD building would strengthen healthcare service delivery by expanding the health centre’s capacity to serve more people. He noted that once completed, the facility would help decongest Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital by bringing more diagnostic and treatment services closer to the community.
Asaba urged the contractor to deliver quality work and complete the project within the agreed timeframe. Linda Irene Mugisa, the Fort Portal City Woman Member of Parliament, said the city is investing in health infrastructure to strengthen lower-level health facilities and reduce the number of patients seeking treatment at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital. She said the city’s leadership is working to improve the capacity of health centres so they can provide a wider range of diagnostic and treatment services within communities.
Mugisa added that leaders had successfully lobbied for an increase in the annual budget allocation to Kataraka Health Centre IV from ninety-five million shillings to nearly double that amount to further improve service delivery. Residents welcomed the project, saying it would help address overcrowding and improve the quality of healthcare services.
Juliet Kenema, a resident of Kataraka, said patients have been at risk of contracting infections because of the congested waiting area at the health facility.”When you come with malaria, you may end up sitting next to someone with a cough because the space is small and overcrowded, and you also contract it. The new OPD will help solve this challenge,” she said.
Amooti Kemigisa, another resident, said expanding the facility would encourage more people to seek treatment at Kataraka Health Centre IV instead of travelling to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital. She noted that some residents avoid lower-level health facilities because of the misconception that they lack medicines and quality services, yet many are capable of providing effective healthcare-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
