The Joint Medical Store (JMS) has embarked on the construction of the regional medical warehouse and supply Centre for Northern Uganda worth Shillings 7 billion.
Construction of the medical warehouse kicked off Friday at Holy Rosary Church in Gulu City on a piece of land allocated by Gulu Archdiocese. The work is expected to last twelve months and is being undertaken by King Albert and Ubuntu Construction companies.
Bildard Baguma, the Executive Director of the Joint Medical Store (JMS) told URN that the medical warehouse facility will serve the greater northern region and parts of South Sudan once completed. Baguma explained that the development follows the challenges associated with medical storage, delayed transportation, damage, and bureaucracies involved when ordering from Nsambya, Kampala City.
The facility worth 2,000 pallet storage positions and 2,000 square meters of warehousing space will be opened and available to ensure supplies to both government and private health facilities. Speaking during the groundbreaking, Gulu Archbishop, John Baptist Odama, said that the initiative is an extension of the vision of the Catholic and Anglican denominations to have a medical unit in the Northern Region catering to health services.
Lucy Apoko from Gulu Independent Hospital said that the construction of the medical warehouse will relieve them of delays in the delivery of medical supplies, which they are currently battling. She notes that the delayed deliveries are greatly affecting health service provision to the public.
Martin Ogwal, the Institutional Director of St Mary`s Hospital Lacor, says that having the medical warehouse in Gulu will bridge the challenges in the supply chain between the hospital and JMS warehouse in Kampala.
FOR MORE CLICK HERE
