Government owned Soroti Regional Referral Hospital does not have enough beds forcing pregnant women to deliver from the floor, ChimpReports has learnt.
According to the acting director, Dr. Fred Kiria, the biggest hospital in Teso sub region receives at least 100 pregnant women daily yet their maternity ward is meant to accommodate only 30 women per day.
“Many of them are forced to deliver from the floor due to inadequate beds and mattresses to accommodate these big numbers,”Dr.Kiria said.
He added that the overwhelming number of pregnant women has not only been felt by their maternity ward but the entire regional referral hospital.
The acting Soroti referral hospital director said there are many other challenges that are lowering the services of the hospital like the dilapidated structures constructed by the colonial government in the 1940s but have since then never been refurbished.
“The hospital wards, Administration block, Stores and X-ray machine block are all in a sorry state. Most of the roofs are leaking and make life for patients difficult during the rainy season. Government needs to come to our rescue,” he noted.
No Land for Expansion
Dr.Kiria however noted that efforts to see that the regional referral hospital is expanded cannot yield anything because there is no land for erecting new structures.
He revealed that land that could have been used for expansion has been taken over by Soroti central police station, Post Office, Soroti School of Comprehensive Nursing and a church.
“All that was hospital land but was taken over by other institutions and there is no way they can be evicted. Government needs to allocate another piece of land where the hospital can expand from,” he urged.
The Soroti Municipality Mayor Mr. Paul Omer however, promised to handle the matter to ensure the hospital’s pride is revived.