Joshua Nahamya
12 December, 2024
Mbarara City – Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital [MRRH] has received a fully-fledged anesthesia machine from the Hal Tilbury family from San Diego.
The anesthesia machine is a critical machine that delivers anesthesia, and oxygen, and monitors vital signs when conducting surgical procedures.
While handing over the state of the art anesthesia equipment on Monday, the hospital’s publicist, Halson Kagure, confirmed that the donated equipment worth Shs 200mln has an operating bed, suction machine, patient monitors among other components which help to deliver quick operational services to the patients.
This is the anesthesia machine donated by the Hal Tilbury family from San Diego. By Joshua Nahamya
Kagure said that the donors had earlier visited the health facility and observed the need for the specialists especially from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to have such specialized equipment to save the lives of mothers amidst other challenges.
“This family visited the facility in October, 2024 and was impressed by the dedication of the medics although they realized something missing that has made such a generous contribution to improve health service delivery.” He noted
Dr. Musa Kayondo, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology welcomed the support noting that it will enhance access to quality care across all departments in the hospital.
Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.
He acknowledged that the department has been challenged by inadequate equipment although they have been performing their duties above the country’s expectations.
“This is a very new machine, when you are talking in-terms of cars, we have graduated from subaru to range rover. It is costly and will be used for a wide range of surgical procedures,” Dr. Kayondo noted
He added that the machine will also be used to train medical students at Mbarara University of Science and Technology [MUST] among other medical institutions attached to the main hospital in Mbarara.
Associate Professor Joseph Ngonzi, the Dean Faculty MUST said that their medical students will be exposed to anesthesia delivery, patient monitoring, and various anesthesia techniques under the close supervision of the senior lecturers.
He however decried of handling of the medical equipment which affects the longevity of the expensive medical equipment within the facility.
“All clinicians and non-support staff working in the theater must undergo user training because we are tired of losing such irreplaceable mega equipment.” Ngonzi said
Dr. Deus Twesigye, Acting Director and Senior Consultant General Surgeon commended the work done by the benefactor family for touching on the lives of many Ugandans.
He stressed that the donated machine will ensure that all the eight operating theaters are operationalized.
“Currently we had only seven operating theaters; the rest had collapsed because of lack of operational anesthesia machines in the facility.” Twesigye said
He noted that the new machine will improve the patient care in terms of enhanced safety, better patient comfort, and confidence on part of the surgeons.
Out of seventeen (17) regional referral hospitals across the country, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital remains the sole regional referral hospital which has established itself as a regional center of excellence offering unique specialized services. The hospital is reportedly second to Mulago in performing high volumes of surgical procedures although still challenged with meager resources such as a low staffing rate, and medical supplies issues among others.
Currently, it is estimated that MRRH’s catchment area comprises five million people, a figure which is far above its counterparts.
This is due to the fact that the hospital receives patients beyond the Ankole catchment area, stretching to other regional referral hospitals, refugee communities, and neighboring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.
