The Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) director, Dr Celestine Barigye, has asked the government to consider upgrading the facility to a Specialised national referral hospital.
Speaking at the commissioning of the MRRH Histopathology and Research Laboratories, Dr Barigye said the hospital has 33 Specialised services and needs more staff and equipment to enable them handle health challenges.
Dr Barigye said once the facility is upgraded to a national referral, they will be able to offer more services, including research.
He said they are agitating to have a national referral not only for Mbarara but the whole country so that they can get more staff, more budgets and more consultancy so that work can be done here and the Mbarara University of Science and Technology can also benefit from teaching these people here from Ministry of Health.
Dr Barigye also requested the government to give Isingiro District a general hospital to handle the cases of expectant mothers who reach the facility in a bad shape.
Mbarara City Resident Commissioner Rtd Lt Col James Mwesigye supported the request, saying the population in the area has increased, which has increased pressure on health workers in the area.
However, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwiine, said the government does not have funds to upgrade the hospital to national referral status.
She said priority has been given to the enhancement of salaries for health workers starting next month.