The Hospital Director, Dr. Filbert Nyeko told the officials that there is no legal instrument mandating them to supervise and assert their authority on the management of the hospital.
There
is a disagreement between the management of Arua Regional Referral Hospital,
Arua district and City leadership over the supervision of the facility.
Recently,
the hospital management turned away a team of officials from Arua
City and district who had gone to monitor
service delivery on grounds that the facility is under the direct supervision
of the Health Ministry and not Local Governments.
The Hospital
Director, Dr. Filbert Nyeko told the officials that there is no legal instrument mandating them to supervise and assert their authority on the management of the
hospital.
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The statements by the Hospital Director have not
gone down with the Arua City Mayor, Sam Wadri Nyakua. Nyakua says that their attempts to question
the manner
in which the hospital operates has met resistance.
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Alfred Okuonzi, the Arua LC 5 Chairperson explained
that due to the ‘bad relationship’ between the hospital and local government
leaders, they have resorted to finding ways of upgrading their lower health
units to manage their health needs.
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Similarly, Dickson Adomati, the Arua Deputy
Resident City Commissioner, said a lot of negativity about Arua Regional
Referral Hospital has found its way into the public domain, which he says
requires a lasting solution.
Adomati further warns against personalizing issues
relating to the hospital management, saying his office will no longer tolerate
it.
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The bad blood between the hospital
administration started following the mysterious disappearance of the hospital
ambulance in March this year and death of three
people including Arua District Agricultural
Officer, Gertrude Badaru at the hospital COVID-19 Treatment Unit a month ago
due to lack of Oxygen.
In
their visit to Arua last week, MPs sitting on the Parliamentary Committee on COVID-19
taskforce were puzzled at what they said was a total breakdown of the
relationship
between the hospital administration and local
leaders. They called for an immediate solution to end the sour relationship.
Candia Stephen
Freelancer