Kiwoko Hospital is a private community hospital, in the Central Region of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The hospital is affiliated with the

Church of Uganda The Church of Uganda (C/U) is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently, there are 37 dioceses that make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest k ...

Location

The hospital is located in the town of Kiwoko, in

Nakaseke District Nakaseke District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda. It is named after Nakaseke, the largest town in the district. However, the district headquarters are located at Butalangu. Location Nakaseke District ...

. Kiwoko is in the Luweero Triangle, about , by road, north-west of

Mulago National Referral Hospital Mulago National Specialised Hospital, also known as Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. It is the largest public hospital in Ug ...

, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. The geographical coordinates of Kiwoko Hospital are: 0°50'23.0"N, 32°21'40.0"E (Latitude:0.839722; Longitude:32.361111).

Overview

Kiwoko Hospital is a 250-bed community hospital administered by the Church of Uganda through the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau. The hospital is operated with donations made to the ''Friends of Kiwoko Hospital''. When the hospital was founded in 1991, Kiwoko was in the

Luweero District Luweero District (also spelled as Luwero) is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Central Region, Uganda, Central Region of Uganda. Luweero is the site of the district headquarters. Location Luweero District is bordered by Nakasongola 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 A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

from Bangor in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, 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 was established in her name, raising 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 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. In November 2021, as the hospital celebrated 30 years of existence, the Ministry of Health of Uganda recognized its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as a centre of excellence in newborn health 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