KCMC operates on ‘borrowed money’
By Arusha Times correspondent
The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) Referral Hospital in Moshi is yet to receive any subsidy from the government since the beginning of the 2014/2015 financial year.
This was revealed in Moshi last week by the chairman of Tanzania Union of Government and Health Employees (Tughe) Mr. Paul Mumba during the signing of an agreement between the two organizations to improve the welfare of the hospital workers.
He said he was not sure if the welfare of the hospital employees would ever improve even with the agreement signed because KCMC is short of funds to operate. The medical institution has been managing its affairs on borrowed money, he explained.
The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, a teaching hospital now facing
financial problems to run day-to-day activities and expand
facilities. (File photo
According to Mr. Mumba, the government is yet to inject Sh. 1.2 billion it owed the Lutheran Church-owned hospital. He added that following this, the hospital has been forced to suspend some key services.
"I am now doubtful if at all the agreement we have signed will work because the hospital is running on borrowed money because the government has not disbursed any funds todate", the official explained.
The financial director of the hospital Hilda Mungure said since the beginning of the current financial year the hospital has improved its internal revenues to run the facility and that the health insurance scheme has helped to boost its income.
He said the government's decision to allow health insurance schemes to send money directly to the public hospitals has helped to improve services as well enabling them to purchase essential drugs."I am now doubtful if at all the agreement we have signed will work because the hospital is running on borrowed money because the government has not disbursed any funds todate", the official explained.
The financial director of the hospital Hilda Mungure said since the beginning of the current financial year the hospital has improved its internal revenues to run the facility and that the health insurance scheme has helped to boost its income.
Acting KCMC director general Professor Raimos Olomi said besides scarcity of funds, services offered at the famous hospital have been compromised by a serious congestion of patients seeking treatment from various districts in the northern regions.
The 44 year-old hospital located on the outskirts of Moshi is also coping with the problem of overcrowding by patients which has worsened in recent years with the number of those admitted outstripping the bed capacity.
"The hospital has the capacity to admit 400 in-patients but currently it has been forced to accommodate 600", said the director of medical services Dr. Mark Mvungi. He said the increasing number of patients and visitors amid the space constraint posed a danger of outbreak of communicable diseases within the leading referral hospital for the northern regions.
He added that currently the hospital ,located on the outskirts of Moshi, was treating about 1,000 patients a day, more than necessary because some of them could have been treated in lower grade hospitals and health centres.
Dr. Mvungi pleaded with the government to intervene and see how it can support the hospital overcome some of the problems it is facing, especially overcrowding by patients.
Few months ago,it was announced that KCMC Referral Hospital will spend Sh. 1.6 billion for construction of two more wards for in-patients, a big relief for the regional hospital facing bed crisis for admitted patients.
The hospital has also started to construct a new building for out-patient department (OPD) because the old wing for the purposed can no longer cope with the number of patients reporting every day.
This was revealed by the acting director general of the hospital Prof. Raimos Olomi when he was handing over the architectural designs of the proposed buildings to the contractor.
He added that the new buildings would cost a total of Sh. 1.9 bn being a loan from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), adding that the 40 year old hospital is overburdened by the increasing number of patients.
According to him, the hospital located on the outskirts of Moshi has the capacity to admit 450 patients but currently it has been forced to serve up to 600 in-patients a day.
Speaking during the handing over of the building designs, the recently-retired Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), Northern Diocese, Bishop Martin Shao said everything should be done to complete the buildings.
He called on various private and church organizations within and outside the country to contribute whatever they could so that the construction projects are completed in time.
The NHIF regional manager for Kilimanjaro Fidelis Shauritanga said the loan has been extended to enable the referral hospital to improve its services and to cope with the increasing number of patients.
He added that NHIF has realized that many hospitals and health facilities across the country could not render better services as anticipated because of the poor structures or inadequate space.
No comments :
Post a Comment