Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), is a specialized, public, tertiary care medical facility owned by the Uganda Ministry of Health. It is a component of Mulago National Referral Hospital, the largest hospital in Uganda, which serves as the teaching hospital of Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
Video Uganda Heart Institute
Location
The Institute is located on Mulago Hill in the northern part of the city of Kampala. It sits within the Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching hospital of the Makerere University College of Health Sciences. This location is approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), by road, north-east of the central business district of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. The coordinates of the Institute are 0°20'17.0"N, 32°34'31.0"E (Latitude:0.338056; Longitude:32.575278).
Maps Uganda Heart Institute
Overview
The Uganda Heart Institute is the specialized unit within the Mulago National Referral Hospital that diagnoses, treats, and manages heart diseases, including birth abnormalities, infections, heart attacks, and heart surgery. The unit is semi-autonomous and is headed by a director and supervised by the Ministry of Health. The board of directors of the Institute is composed of leading politicians, government consultants, businesspeople, university professors, cardiologists, and cardiothoracic surgeons in Uganda. In recognition of its special status as a super specialist facility, a bill is pending before parliament which when enacted will transform it into a fully autonomous institution.
History
In 1988, the Uganda Heart Foundation, in collaboration with the Uganda Ministry of Health, Makerere University and Mulago National Referral Hospital, started the Uganda Heart Institute, using space provided on Ward 1C, in the New Mulago Hospital Complex. This resurrected plans to establish a specialized cardiac unit at Mulago, began in 1958, but were killed in 1972, with the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians by dictator Idi Amin. Since 1988, the Institute has received valuable contribution from national and international donors including the Rotary Club. Media reports indicate that of the 1.5 million children born every year in Uganda, about 15,000 have heart defects at birth (congenital heart abnormalities). Of those, about 8,000 children require corrective surgeries. Uganda's only heart institute has the capacity to perform only 1,000 heart operations annually. That leaves a backlog of 7,000 youngsters every year.
Expansion plans
Beginning in August 2015, the Government of Uganda plans to break ground for a new 200 bed hospital to be named Uganda Institute of Cardiothoracic Diseases, to replace the current Uganda Heart Institute. The new hospital will have three operating theatres, cardiac catheterization laboratories, an Intensive Care Unit, and research facilities. The construction will be funded by a US$64.9 million (UGX:169 billion) loan from the Islamic Development Bank. It is anticipated that the Institute will seek financial autonomy to raise funds, hire staff, pay salaries, and procure supplies, independent of Mulago Hospital, similar to the autonomy enjoyed by the Uganda Cancer Institute.
Board of directors
As of February 2013, the following individuals constituted the board of directors of the Institute:
- Robert Ssebunnya, MP for Kyaddondo County, North - chairman
- Samuel Owori, (Rotarian) - vice chairman
- Francis Omaswa - member
- Harriet Mayanja-Kizza - member
- Paul D'Arbela - member
- Lawrence Kagwa - member
- Samuel Zaramba - member (Uganda Ministry of Health)
- Jacinto Amandua - member (Uganda Ministry of Health)
- Gordon Wavamunno - member
- John Omagino - member (medical director)
- Peter Lwabi - member (deputy medical director)
List of medical directors of UHI
The following cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons have served as the director of the Uganda Heart Institute since its foundation in 1988:
- Francis Omaswa, cardiovascular surgeon, 1988 - 1998
- Roy Mugerwa, cardiologist, 1998 - 2008
- John Omagino, cardiothoracic surgeon, since 2008
See also
- Makerere University School of Medicine
- Hospitals in Uganda
- Mulago Women's Referral Hospital
- Uganda Cancer Institute
- List of medical schools in Uganda
- Makerere University College of Health Sciences
References
External links
- Mulago Hospital Web Site
- Makerere University College of Health Sciences Homepage
- Government Moves To Overhaul Health Sector
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments