Kalongo Hospital

Location

The hospital is located in the town of Kalongo, Agago District, Acholi sub-region, in the Northern Region of Uganda. This location lies approximately 160 km, by road, northeast of Gulu, the largest city in the sub-region.{{google maps|title=Distance Between Gulu And Kalongo With Map

Overview

Kalongo Hospital is a private, non-profit, community hospital owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu, and is accredited by the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau. It is administered by the Sisters of Mary Immaculate.

The hospital was started in a grass-hut by Sister Eletta Mantiero, a Comboni Missionary Sister, as a dispensary in 1934. It soon started delivering babies and attending to medical and pediatric patients.

In 1957, Dr. Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli, an Italian physician, surgeon and catholic priest, began the transformation of the dispensary into a full-fledged hospital. At that time the dispensary was treating many leprosy patients. Dr. Ambrosoli revolutionalised the care for leprosy patients, by admitting them to the same hospital as other patients, instead of confining them to a leprosarium. At that time, leprosaria were generally badly managed and led to patient neglect, especially in Tropical Africa.

Today, the hospital is a 350-bed facility, that admits patients in the disciplines of Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynecology. , Kalongo Hospital employed over 300 staff members.{{cite web| title=Museveni hails church over health, education |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1297162/museveni-hails-church-health-education |newspaper=New Vision |date=27 January 2010 |author=New Vision |access-date=24 October 2020

The hospital has been renamed Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital, after its founder. As of October 2020, it averages 26,012 annual outpatients visits, with 11,796 annual inpatient admissions. Annual maternal deliveries average 2,665, with a caesarian rate of 15.3 percent. The hospital operates on income derived from patient fees, donations and annual government subsidies. However, no patient is turned away because of inability to pay. On average, patient fees account for approximately 9.8 percent of total hospital annual income and the Government subsidy accounts for about 18.4 percent of annual hospital income.

In 1959 Dr. Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosolio established St. Mary's School of Midwifery, with a view of someday in the future handing over the care of the patients to local Ugandan staff. , the school had a student body of about 120. The school is closely affiliated with the hospital.

References

References

1. Lifegate. (20 May 2020). "With bare hands, how Uganda's Kalongo Hospital is fighting the coronavirus". Lifegate.com.
2. Hope2OneLife. (2014). "History of Dr.Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital, Kalongo". Hope2OneLife.Org.
3. Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau. (24 October 2020). "About Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital". Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau.
4. St. Mary’s Midwifery Training School. (October 2020). "About St. Mary's School of Midwifery Kalongo". St. Mary’s Midwifery Training School.