By William Madouk
Nimule Hospital is grappling with a severe shortage of human resources, leading to a downgraded level of health care services, placing the lives of patients at risk.
Nimule, a town along the border with Uganda is a bustling town that has long relied on the hospital services for essential healthcare to residents and travelers.
But the lack of staff has cast a dark shadow on the institution, forcing it into a state of consternation.
Speaking to the press at his office, Dr. David Nyuma Sylvester, the Medical Director said the institution is gripping with a staffing shortage.
“We have a gap in the area of staffing, we have like six doctors and four clinical officers who are mainly in the outpatient department,” he said.
Nimule Hospital in Magwi County of Eastern Equatoria state which was established in mid- 1990s, has a capacity of 174 beds, according to the Doctor.
He cited that the workload in the hospital coupled with the shortage of staff has eroded the quality of service.
“You know in health without professional staff doing the work – you may not provide the services as per the expectations,” he explained.
Dr. Nyuma added that due to its strategic location at the border area – Nimule hospital receives patients from neighboring countries as well.
“We also treat travelers along the Juba-Nimule highway, when the travelers get sick, they also drop here and we manage them here,” he noted.
He further highlighted that the facility also treats patients involved in road accidents along the Juba-Nimule highway.
“We do receive the road traffic accident victims and we manage to stabilize them. For those who may need a referral, we do the referral as per the condition,” Dr. Nyuma continued.
The medical director explained that the hospital has one ambulance that transports referred patients.
“Another area of challenge is diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. I will only mention one key gap which is the X-ray machine,” he added.
To him, due to the lack of X-ray machines, patients involved in road accidents are referred, which is costly and time-consuming.
Dr. Nyuma rued the drug supply system, citing that the Ministry of Health supplies hospitals with what they need to give and not drugs that the facility needs.
“They [MoH] decide what to send here at a time our need may be based on the presented conditions that may require more of the specific drug. But we end up getting less which we may run off before we receive the next supply.”