7th September, 2026, Jinja – The Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Health conducted a comprehensive oversight visit to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital (Jinja RRH) to evaluate the state of health service delivery, inspect critical infrastructure, and assess overall hospital operations across the Busoga sub-region. The exercise formed part of the Committee’s nationwide oversight campaign aimed at identifying systemic gaps, monitoring budget performance, assessing the implementation of previous parliamentary and Auditor General recommendations, and gathering firsthand evidence to guide future policy and budgetary interventions.

The visit commenced with a detailed tour through key hospital facilities, where Members of Parliament inspected operating theatres, clinical wards, diagnostic units, and outpatient clinics to observe the daily conditions under which health workers deliver care. Serving communities across Busoga and beyond, Jinja RRH provides a wide range of specialized services, including emergency care, general surgery, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, paediatrics, maternal healthcare, dental services, imaging, and laboratory diagnostics.

Prior to the facility tour, the parliamentary delegation met with hospital leadership, led by Senior Executive Consultant, Can. Dr. Alfred Yayi, alongside Mr. Peter Kisambira from the newly appointed Hospital Board and various  heads of department. Management presented both the steady progress made in expanding clinical services and the pressing resource constraints that hamper optimal healthcare delivery.

During the engagement, Can. Dr. Alfred Yayi outlined the primary challenges facing the institution, highlighting severe staffing shortages as a major operational bottleneck. Jinja RRH currently operates at only 32% of its approved staffing structure, placing immense pressure on the available medical team as patient volumes continues to grow.

Dr. Yayi also drew attention to the regional sickle cell burden, noting that the hospital currently manages 4,543 registered patients living with sickle cell disease. The specialized clinics see high daily attendance, averaging 80 to 90 children at the Nalufenya-Children’s Hospital Sickle Cell Clinic and around 30 adult patients at the main hospital campus on clinic days.

Addressing critical infrastructure needs, hospital leadership presented key prayers to the Committee, emphasizing the urgent need to repair the hospital’s primary oxygen plant. The plant has been non-functional since experiencing a technical failure in April and difficulty in acquiring spare parts from Germany. The plant previously produced up to 250 cylinders of oxygen per day—enough to sustain the hospital and supply lower-level facilities across the region. In the interim, the facility has had to procure oxygen from a private supplier in Namanve at a substantial cost.

Management further appealed for parliamentary support to secure a dialysis machine to establish local renal care services, alongside a dedicated hospital power line to safeguard critical care patients and protect sensitive medical equipment during frequent power outages.

During the briefing, Can. Dr. Alfred Yayi reaffirmed the hospital staff’s deep commitment to delivering quality specialized care to the population, but stressed that bridging the current staffing gap, restoring full oxygen production, and securing stable power infrastructure are vital pre-conditions for meeting the region’s rising health demands.

Hospital Board Member Mr. Peter Kisambira expressed similar sentiments, emphasizing that the oversight visit offered a critical opportunity to present everyday hospital challenges directly to lawmakers. He voiced confidence that the findings from the visit would translate into practical funding and policy support during upcoming legislative sessions.

In response, the Health Committee delegation, led by Hon. Hope Grania Nakazibwe and joined by local leaders including Jinja City Woman MP Hon. Sarah Lwansasula and Hon. Dr. Batuwa Timothy, commended the dedication of the hospital management and clinical staff.

Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Hon. Hope Grania Nakazibwe noted that the visit allowed the Committee to witness both the remarkable commitment of the medical staff and the harsh resource limitations under which they work. She assured hospital management that the Committee would actively champion Jinja RRH’s cause in Parliament, lobbying for increased staffing, infrastructure funding, and enhanced support for specialized services like sickle cell management.

The Committee pledged to actively engage Parliament and relevant government ministries to address the hospital’s financial constraints, facilitate infrastructure repairs, strengthen specialized care, and review Public-Private Partnership guidelines to improve regional healthcare delivery.

Jinja RRH extends its sincere appreciation to the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Health for their visit and constructive engagement, reaffirming its dedication to advancing quality healthcare for all patients across the region.

By Martha Agama Elizabeth