MBARALI DISTICT

Mbarali District Executive Director, George kagomba talking to journalists not in picture.The Acting Mbarali District Medical Officer, Dr. Boniface Kasululu (in whiteshirt) also talking visiting journalists from Iringa Region at the press conference held in his office yesterday.

By Friday Simbaya,
Mbarali

MBARALI District Council in Mbeya Region has set aside 400m/- in this fiscal year toward the construction a new modern district hospital, it has been disclosed.

Speaking yesterday during press briefing, Mbarali District Executive Director George Kagomba said that his district is planning to put up modern district hospital because the in use cannot cater for other health services due to it size.

He noted that the one that is being used was once health centre before it upgraded to become a district hospital has the district did not have one since it started the past few years.

“We will start by constructing an administration block first during this financial year before we go to other building depending on financing in future. Since the district started the past few years has had not district hospital which making it difficult in delivering quality health care due the capacity of the current district hospital in use,” Kagomba told the press conference.

He added that district hospital will be built nearby the district executive director office.

According to Dr. Boniface Kasululu, who is the Acting District Medical Office (DMO), the hospital is facing a shortage staff in different cadres.

He said that district hospital operate efficiently it need at least three (3) doctors including a medical Officer In-charge (MOI), DMO and special doctor.

In the cadre of assistance medical officers the hospital need at least 10 of them but currently there only four, clinical officers they are six instead of 16 and also the other cadres as while.

The shortage of health workers at the district hospital was the result of many the staff has gone for further studies, according the acting DMO.

Mentioned other problems that the district hospital is facing is big number of patients both in-patients and out-patients who come to seek medical attention.
He said that there are between 50-100 in-patients that are admitted compared to the total 64 beds in the wards, and also the hospital receive more than 150 OPD patients everyday manly children.

“The patients who come to seek medical attention at the district hospital are suffering from waterborne disease complex like purging, typhoid and malaria due to drinking unsafe water which is problem for the district,” he said.

The large of patients that district hospital receive could reversed if only the government improve the referral system because residents are running away from health centers to come the district hospital where they thought that they will get better healthcare.

The hospital has an X-ray machine which is sitting idle because there is no one to operate it, so the hospital needs urgently an expert to rescue the situation, it was discovered.

There is also problem enough water at the hospital as the hospital only have 10,000 liters storage tank at the hospital as compared number of people who are using it.

The hospital also has not enough space to build other buildings because it is surrounded by the residential.
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