The International Hospital Kampala has opened another clinic to ease pressure on services at their Namuwongo main branch.
The facility in Kololo on Wampewo Avenue, opposite the airstrip was officially opened on March 5. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the International Medical Group, Dr. Ian Clarke, some people go to the hospital to access primary healthcare services which include immunisation, treatment of malaria, typhoid etc, yet these can be gotten from a clinic.
Besides, some people might find it easier to go to Kololo than go across town to Namuwongo. Services offered at this new clinic include: obstetrics and gynaecology, antenatal care and classes, immunisation, scanning and general surgery.
In the future, they hope to include physiotherapy and counselling. On why smaller hospitals around the country are suffering financially, Clarke, says that it is as a result of Ugandans’ poor saving culture.
Because the average Ugandan will not save for their healthcare, when they fall sick, they will run to hospitals that offer cheaper services say Mulago because they will not have the money to spend in the private hospitals.
Private hospitals are expensive for an average Ugandan, because they invest heavily in machinery (healthcare machines cost between $100,000 - $1,000,000) and as such, investors hope to make a return off their investment by charging heavily.
Clarke warns that Ugandans are fleeced as a result of this. Because few patients go to these expensive hospitals or clinics, they are made to pay as much as they look like they can afford to pay.
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