Emergency department III Number of beds 170 | Hospital type General Address Kampala, Uganda Founded 2016 | |
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Similar Church House - Uganda, Movement House, Twed Towers, Kibuli Hospital, Kampala Hilton Hotel | ||
Kawempe general hospital
Kawempe General Hospital, also known as the Kawempe General Referral Hospital, is a hospital in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. It is an urban, general hospital built between 2014 and 2016, at an estimated cost of US$15 million (UGX:38 billion). The hospital was constructed by the government of Uganda, with funding from the African Development Bank and the Nigeria Trust Fund.
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Location
The hospital is in Kawempe Division, one of the five administrative units of the Kampala Capital City Authority. This location is approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), by road, north of the city's central business district, along the Kampala-Gulu Highway. The coordinates of the hospital are 0°21'43.0"N, 32°33'41.0"E (Latitude:0.361944; Longitude:32.561389).
Overview
In December 2013, the Uganda Government, through the Ministry of Health, contracted China National Aero Technology to construct the hospital at an estimated cost of approximately US$15 million (UGX:38 billion). Construction is expected to commence in 2014. In December 2015, Ugandan print media reported that construction of the hospital was nearing completion, with commissioning planned for March 2016.
Target population
Due to rapid urbanization, the night-time population of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city, is estimated at 2 million, but swells to 4.5 million during the day. This huge increase in the city's population has outstripped the services delivery facilities and mechanisms established by the British colonialists during the mid 1900s. Extreme pressure has been exerted, particularly on Mulago National Referral Hospital, the largest public hospital in the country, which also serves as the teaching hospital for Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
In 2013, the Uganda government obtained a loan from the African Development Bank and Nigeria Trust Fund to (a) rehabilitate and improve Mulago Hospital (b) construct Kawempe General Referral Hospital (c) construct Kiruddu General Referral Hospital and (d) re-organize healthcare delivery in the city of Kampala, so that some of the patient burden is shifted to Naguru General Hospital, Kawempe General Hospital, and Kiruddu General Hospital. Mulago will then be reserved for the role for which it was constructed; as a true referral hospital, serving patients referred to it by other health facilities, and not handing common colds and uncomplicated ear infections.