Concerns over the state of Soroti Regional Referral Hospital have intensified, with calls for the construction of a completely new regional referral and teaching hospital.

The facility is struggling with dilapidated infrastructure, severe understaffing, inadequate equipment and limited space. Hospital officials told the Parliamentary Health Committee that the limited theatre space has forced medical workers to operate in shifts, including on weekends, to cope with the workload.

Executive Director Dr Watmon Benedict said the hospital has a traditional bed capacity of 278, but staffing stands at only about 23 percent of the approved establishment. The infrastructure challenges include ageing buildings, outdated electrical systems and constrained diagnostic and surgical capacity.

Soroti University has offered about 50 acres of land for a possible new hospital. Prof Samuel Kabwigu, Dean of the university’s School of Health Sciences, said the land was made available to support expansion and strengthen the facility’s role as a regional teaching and referral centre.

Dr Watmon noted that the Ministry of Health has expressed interest in constructing a new hospital on the university land, with potential support from development partners including JICA. Lawmakers and health officials say a modern facility is long overdue given the population growth in the Teso sub-region and surrounding areas.