The Soroti City West Member of Parliament, Hon. Jonathan Ebwalu has Tuesday revealed that 15 patients died Monday due to lack of oxygen and blood at the regional health facility.
The incensed legislator locked up the facility after spending a night at the hospital while monitoring service delivery.
Hon Ebwalu said he noticed top administrators of Soroti Regional Hospital have absconded duty for five days well knowing there is blood and oxygen crisis.
“I got calls from patients that there was no Oxygen and blood here (Soroti Hospital), so I decided to run here and indeed I arrived and also found that 15 people had died yesterday (monday) September 11, 2023,” the MP spoke to the media on Tuesday morning.
He added that the referral hospital has since Friday had no oxygen.
“The reason I got was the oxygen plant broke down. I remember what caused that was because four staff here stole the spare parts of the oxygen plant,” Ebwalu said.
Ebwalu questioned the expenditure of shs 600 million a donation from Ministry of Teso Affairs which was meant to procure an X-ray machine.
“We gave this hospital six hundred million for purchasing an x-ray machine but for three years now there is no x-ray machine in this hospital,” he said.
He highlighted the conflict between the hospital director and procurement manager has caused the delay in the purchasing of an X-ray machine.
He has now vowed to drag the hospital leadership to IGG for gross loss of lives, absenteeism and abscondment of duty.
Sister Mary Gorreti Ajiko the acting hospital director declined to comment saying the Hospital Director Dr. Ben Watmoi was meant to address the press on the above subject matter.