Hoima Regional Referral Hospital has operated without a procurement officer for nearly two years, forcing it to rely on an officer from Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Parliament has heard.
The revelation was made when hospital leaders appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (Central) to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General’s report.
The hospital delegation was led by its director, Dr Bwaga Ibrahim, who told MPs that the procurement officer from Fort Portal travels to Hoima whenever procurement work needs to be handled.
“We use the procurement officer of Fort Portal. He comes in, and we have to process his allowances. We have informed the ministry, but it has not gotten one,” Dr Bwaga said.
He said the arrangement has been in place for close to two years, despite repeated communication to the Ministry of Health about the staffing gap.
Maj Gen Henry Matsiko, the UPDF representative in Parliament, questioned how the hospital was able to carry out procurement activities without a substantive procurement officer.
“I have heard that the hospital has no procurement officer. How do you transact work?” Mr Matsiko asked.
Dr Bwaga explained that the hospital has continued to operate by borrowing the services of the Fort Portal officer, but the arrangement comes with additional costs because the officer has to be facilitated whenever he travels to Hoima.
The MPs were also concerned about expired medicines found at the hospital.
The Auditor General’s report showed that Hoima Regional Referral Hospital had expired drugs worth more than Shs34 million.
Karim Masaaba, the substantive chairperson of the committee, questioned why medicines would expire at a hospital where patients often need drugs urgently.
“How come you have expired drugs yet people are in urgent need of medicine?” Mr Masaaba asked.
Dr Bwaga said some of the affected medicines were those under Line Three and had been affected by new Ministry of Health guidelines on the distribution and use of medicines.
He said the hospital could not distribute the medicines because of the new guidance and eventually returned them to the National Medical Stores (NMS).
“Due to the new guidelines from the ministry, the most affected drugs were those in Line Three. We found ourselves not able to distribute these drugs because the ministry guided otherwise, but we returned them to NMS,” Dr Bwaga said.
The hospital management told the committee that it is also preparing for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which Uganda will co-host with Kenya and Tanzania.
Dr Bwaga said the hospital was recruiting critical health workers and strengthening services that would be needed during the tournament.
“We are on course as far as AFCON is concerned. We are recruiting critical human resources to improve services in the region. We have prioritised specialities we did not have,” he said.
He said the hospital was also expanding its mortuary capacity as part of preparations for the expected increase in activity during the continental football tournament.
The preparations are taking place as Parliament continues to scrutinise how regional referral hospitals use public resources and deliver health services.
The hospital serves Hoima and surrounding areas in the Bunyoro sub-region and is expected to play a role in providing emergency and specialised medical services during AFCON-related activities.
