A power supply crisis at Nakaseke General Hospital is threatening to undermine gains made after the facility’s laboratory was refurbished and upgraded to serve as a regional testing hub, hospital officials have warned.
The laboratory was refurbished by Baylor Foundation Uganda with support from the United States government through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a cost of US$118,332.
The upgraded facility was recently commissioned by the U.S. CDC Country Director, Dr Mary Adetinuke Boyd, alongside representatives of the Ministry of Health, CDC Uganda, Nakaseke District leadership and Baylor Foundation Uganda.
Nakaseke General Hospital is a 196-bed public facility serving more than 26,800 people in the district. Its STAR III laboratory provides haematology, chemistry, microbiology, HIV and tuberculosis testing services and conducted 26,246 tests in 2025.
The refurbishment was intended to improve the quality, efficiency and reliability of diagnostic services, including HIV and TB testing, viral load monitoring, early infant diagnosis, antenatal screening, HIV-Syphilis duo testing and cervical cancer screening linked to maternal and child health services.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Baylor Foundation Uganda Executive Director Dr Dithan Kiragga said strong laboratory systems were essential to delivering quality healthcare.
‘This investment will improve access to timely and reliable diagnostic services for communities in Nakaseke, particularly for HIV, TB, maternal and child health, and cervical cancer screening services,’ Dr Kiragga said.
CDC Country Director Dr Mary Adetinuke Boyd said the U.S. government remained committed to supporting Uganda’s health priorities through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and CDC partnerships.
‘Investments in laboratory infrastructure, such as this one at Nakaseke General Hospital, help ensure that communities, especially women, children, and vulnerable populations, have access to life-saving diagnostic services and quality care,’ she said.
Officials said the laboratory currently supports five point-of-care sites providing quality-assured HIV and TB diagnostics and monitoring. With its elevation to hub status, alongside Ngoma Health Centre IV, it will serve as a specimen referral hub for 15 health facilities across Nakaseke District.
However, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr Moses Ocen, said the laboratory’s new capacity could be compromised by the facility’s persistent power shortages.
According to Dr Ocen, power interruptions regularly disrupt operations in critical departments, including the main operating theatre and neonatal intensive care unit. The laboratory is also vulnerable because sample storage, testing equipment and other diagnostic processes require a stable electricity supply.
‘We have a big constraint of power in the hospital, and that means that some of our services are disrupted,’ Dr Ocen said.
The hospital owns a 110 kVA standby generator capable of supplying power to the entire facility. However, Dr Ocen said the hospital lacks adequate resources to fuel the generator consistently, leaving critical departments, including the newly refurbished laboratory, exposed whenever the national grid fails.
To address the problem, the hospital has partnered with Adara Development Uganda on a US$147,000 solar power project, equivalent to more than Shs500 million, which is intended to provide electricity to the entire hospital, including the laboratory.
Dr Ocen said Adara Development Uganda has so far committed US$34,000 to the project, while the hospital is expected to raise counterpart funding of up to Shs110 million.
He appealed to corporate partners, government agencies and other development organisations to help bridge the funding gap, warning that failure to secure a reliable power supply could jeopardise the diagnostic capacity gained through the laboratory upgrade.
‘The solar project is valued at $147,000. The hospital is appealing to partners, whether corporate partners, other entities or other agencies, to come and support, to contribute to this project,’ he said.
Nakaseke General Hospital serves a wider catchment area of about 280,000 people, drawing patients from Nakaseke and neighbouring Luweero, Wakiso, Nakasongola and Kiboga districts. The hospital attends to more than 100,000 patients annually.
Officials say the hospital’s growing role as a regional referral and diagnostic centre makes a reliable power supply for the laboratory essential to sustaining services for patients across the wider catchment area.