Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital is set to receive a major boost after government allocated Shs5 billion to support the recruitment of additional health workers in the 2026/2027 financial year. The funding is expected to strengthen service delivery at the facility, which has for years been struggling with critical understaffing.
Hospital leaders say the support comes at a time when the institution is operating far below its approved staffing level. According to Senior Executive Consultant Dr Archbald Bahiizi Newton Sebahire, the hospital has only 298 health workers against an approved establishment of 1,035, meaning it is functioning at less than a third of the required workforce.
He noted that the shortage has placed an overwhelming burden on the available staff, with some departments operating under extreme pressure. In certain units, he said, only two workers are deployed where at least a dozen are required, a situation that affects efficiency and patient care.
Dr Bahiizi explained that the planned recruitment will help raise staffing levels to about 40 percent in the short term. He added that government has also pledged to gradually increase the wage bill so that the hospital can reach around 60 percent staffing in the next financial cycle.
Despite the positive development, hospital officials warn that staffing is only part of the challenge. Dr Bahiizi emphasized that infrastructure has not kept pace with the hospital’s expansion, especially as new specialised services continue to grow.
He said the hospital now provides advanced care in cardiology, orthopaedics, and psychiatry, but the existing buildings are no longer sufficient to support the increasing patient load. Plans are underway to renovate old structures while also constructing new ones to match service demand.
A number of improvement projects are already ongoing, including the expansion of the Accident and Emergency Unit from two to 20 beds, installation of a CT scanner with on-site interpretation services, and enlargement of the Intensive Care Unit. The hospital is also extending oxygen supply systems to more wards.
Additional upgrades include the establishment of a kidney treatment unit and renovation of the children’s ward and private wing. Officials say these developments, combined with increased staffing, are expected to improve maternal and child health outcomes, reduce congestion, and ease pressure on referral services across the wider region, which serves multiple districts and neighbouring communities from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
