Kiwoko Hospital

Kiwoko Hospital is a community hospital affiliated with the Church of Uganda, in central Uganda. The hospital is located in the town of Kiwoko, in Nakaseke District. Kiwoko is located in the Luweero Triangle, approximately 79.5 kilometres (49.4 mi), by road, northwest of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.^[1]

Overview

Kiwoko Hospital is a 250-bed community hospital administered by the Church of Uganda through the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau (UPMB). The hospital is operated using donations made to the Friends of Kiwoko Hospital (FOKH). At the time the hospital was founded in 1988, Kiwoko was in the then Luweero District. However, when Nakaseke District was carved out of Luweero District in 2005, Kiwoko went with Nakaseke District. Kiwoko, however, remains in the Luweero Triangle, which roughly corresponds to the area covered by present-day Luweero District and Nakaseke District or Luweero District alone, before the split.

History

In 1988 Ian Clarke, a general practitioner from Bangor in Northern Ireland, traveled to Uganda with his young family with the intention of starting a community-based health care program. Initial work was done in partnership with the Kasana Orphanage.

Upon the death of an expatriate visitor to the area, Barbara Kelly, a memorial fund established in her name which raised an initial £25,000. That initial donation enabled construction to start on the first permanent building. Two years later, and through continued donations, the Barbara Kelly Memorial Hospital was completed.

Kiwoko Hospital, as it was later renamed, was formally opened in September 1991 by the then Vice President of Uganda, the late Samson Kisekka. In 1997, the hospital established a partnership with Adara Development. In November 2001 the hospital celebrated its tenth anniversary, and boasted over 220 beds, a laboratory, a laboratory assistant training school, a nurse training school, and an active community-based health care programme.

See also

• Hospitals in Uganda

More information

There are two books published about the hospital, both by New Wine Press:

• The Man with the Key has Gone by Ian Clarke, which discusses the origins
• There is a Snake in my Cupboard by Dr. Nick Wooding, which carries on the story till 2003.

References

External links

• Website of Kiwoko Hospital
• Facebook Page of Kiwoko Hospital
• Website of Friends of Kiwoko Hospital
• Evolution of Uganda Districts

Coordinates: 00°50′39″N 32°21′47″E / 0.84417°N 32.36306°E / 0.84417; 32.36306