The Ngora Hospital Covid-19 Response.

While our home is at Hotel Africana in the center of Kampala, and you are located 248kms away in the Eastern part of this country, we, the Rotarians of Kampala Central have you at heart. We have been here before and we know your challenges as a medical facility struggling to endeavor everyone is served.

When we first visited, almost 4 years ago, we knew you were struggling. You had enormous challenges especially in the area of maternal and child health. We offered to be your friends and came established ourselves here.

Maternal and Child Health is one of the 7 areas of focus where Rotary helps to protect and promote the health of a mother and the new born child. In Uganda, even though high-impact interventions are available, they are not reaching all of the women and newborns who need them especially those in rural districts.

After our intervention, this is now different for the mothers and babies in Ngora District. The project intervention by the Rotary Club of Kampala Central was worth One Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand United States Dollars (USD192,000).  The Rotary Global grant involved the Refurbishment of the dilapidated structures that housed the Maternity Ward and Operating Theatre at the Hospital, provision of a 15,000-liter water tank to supply water to the Maternity Ward and Operating Theatre and reconstruction of the walkway between the Operating Theatre and Maternity Ward.

https://portal.clubrunner.ca/5572/PhotoAlbums/commissioning-the-freda-carr-ngora-hospital (commissioning in pictures)

It also included provision of the following equipment to the facilities:

Delivery Beds, Examination Coaches, Oxygen Concentrators, Baby Incubators, Autoclaves, Operating Theatre Table (hydraulically adjusted), Operating Lamp Ceiling Type, Mobile Operating Lamp with Rechargeable Batteries (for emergency cases in case there is no power). Dressing Trolley, Pulse oximeter hand held, vacuum extractor, Sterilizer drums, Stretcher-portable and a Manual vacuum aspiration set.

We have since noted that the project has already registered outcomes, with the facility finally attracting 4 new staff ; a gynecologist, a midwife and two medical officers, all attracted by the facelift of the facility because they see hope in the facility

The project also had a component of emergency obstetric and neonatal training for the local nurses and midwives and a Vocational Training Team (VTT) from the United Kingdom was scheduled to visit six times over a period of three years. Out of the six times, three visits were accomplished, in October 2017, October 2018 and November 2019, and over 300 nurses and midwives trained.

However, as fate would have it, the COVID-19 pandemic struck in January 2020 and everything came to a standstill. The VTTs could not travel as airlines were grounded and travel restrictions imposed by countries all over the world.

The Rotary club of Kampala Central and their international partners then thought it wise that instead of the VTTs, they convert the funds and make a COVID-19 intervention by providing medical equipment and drugs to help Ngora Freda Carr Hospital in managing any cases and eventualities that may arise from the outbreak and also helping them to ensure that they maintain the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as instructed by the Ministry of Health as they provide health services to the community.

To this effect, the club is responding to this COVID-19 pandemic by donating equipment and drugs worth UGX 73,604,741 (Uganda shillings seventy three millions six hundred and four thousand seven hundred forty one) to the hospital.

As a club, we hope this will go a long way to help the hospital in managing the conditions that have arisen out of this pandemic and keep the people of Ngora especially the mothers and children safe from COVID-19.

The club has designed another grant and with your prayers when its approved, we shall return and rehabilitate the remaining part of the hospital, and also reconstruct 2 staff houses, provision of water and electricity among other interventions.

We wish you well. Remember to stay safe, keep your mask on whenever in public, wash your hands with water and soap at all times and God bless you

A rural Private Not for Profit Hospital, Ngora Freda Carr Hospital was founded in 1922 as a small medical mission with a donation from a one Mr. Ernest Carr in memory of his daughter Freda who had died in East Africa. Today, 97 years later, Freda Carr Ngora Hospital provides care to a population of more than 150,000 people directly and up to 250,000 people indirectly annually.

The hospital management is headed by Dr Odit- who can be contacted on 0772520991