Government to Upgrade Health Centre IVs to Community Hospitals in New Reform

The government has unveiled a new reform in the health sector aimed at upgrading Health Centre IVs to community hospitals.

This announcement was made by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja during the parliamentary session on Thursday, August 8, chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.

"Based on the Ministry of Health Draft National Health Policy 2024, Government has introduced a reform of upgrading the status of health centre IVs with 24-bed capacity to community hospitals with 60-bed capacity," Nabbanja said.

She further explained, "This will be undertaken in a phased manner, prioritising Health Centre IVs with high catchment populations and 135 constituencies without Health Centre IVs, based on geographical access, population coverage, and resource availability."

Nabbanja was responding to a query from Omoro County Member of Parliament, Andrew Ojok, who sought updates on the presidential directive to construct a hospital in each district.

She noted that upgrading Health Centre IVs to community hospitals would save the country significant costs compared to constructing general hospitals in the 82 districts currently without one. The estimated cost of constructing and equipping a general hospital stands at Shs 70 billion, while a community hospital requires Shs12 billion, according to the Prime Minister.

"Additionally, to fully operationalise a general hospital, the government would need recurrent costs, including wages, non-wage expenditures, medicines, and health supplies, estimated at Shs 12.238 billion per annum, whereas the annual recurrent cost for a community hospital is Shs 4 billion," Nabbanja added.

She also highlighted that since the 2018/2019 financial year, 381 Health Centre IIs have been upgraded to Health Centre III status, with 87% of sub-counties and town councils now having a functional Health Centre III. Another 31 Health Centre IIIs are currently under construction, with Shs 4 billion required to address the needs of the remaining 488 sub-counties.