St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum (SJHK), is a hospital in the Northern 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 ...

. It is a private,

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, i ...

, serving the town of Kitgum and surrounding areas of Kitgum District, Lamwo District and parts of the Republic of South Sudan. In addition, the hospital receives many patients from Kotido District,

Abim District Abim District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Northern Region, Uganda, Northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Abim, Uganda, Abim, where the district headquarters are located. Location Abim District is bordered by Kotido Distric ...

, Moroto District, Agago District and Pader District.

Location

SJHK is located in the town of Kitgum, approximately , by road, northeast of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, in the city of Gulu. This is about , by road, northwest of Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, in the city of Moroto. SJHK lies approximately , by road, north of Lira Regional Referral Hospital, in the city of

Lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

. The geographical coordinates of St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum are: 03°18'10.0"N, 32°53'32.0"E (Latitude:03.302778; Longitude: 32.892222).

Overview

St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum is a private,

owned by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu () is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Gulu in Uganda. History * 1923.06.12: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Nilo Equatoriale from the Apostolic Vicariate of Bahr el-Ghazal ...

, and is accredited by the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau. It is administered by the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. On 16 November 1925, Sister ''Amalia Lonardi'', started a dispensary on the veranda of the Comboni Sisters' Convent. At that time, the area had a high prevalence of leprosy patients and the dispensary was able to offer pain medication and palliative care. On 23 December 1938, Sister ''Secondina Chito'' relocated the dispensary to under a mango tree on the lawn of the Sisters' Convent. That tree still stands as of November 2020. The dispensary was elevated to a Health Center in May 1954, with the establishment of maternity services by Sister ''Maria Rosa'', in consultation with the Bishop of Gulu Diocese at the time, Monsignor John Baptist Cesana. Sister Maria Rosa was assisted by Midwife ''Eufrasia Nanyonga'', who arrived from

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 ...

on 18 August 1954. Beginning in May 1955, visiting doctors from

Gulu Hospital Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, commonly known as Gulu Hospital is a hospital in Gulu, northern Uganda. It is the referral hospital for the districts of Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo and Pader. The hospital also serves as one of the teaching h ...

began making periodic visits along with visiting missionary doctors. The

Uganda Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is a Cabinet of Uganda, cabinet-level government ministry of Uganda. It is responsible for planning, delivering, and maintaining an efficient and effective healthcare delivery system, including preventive, curative, and reh ...

elevated the Health Center to a hospital on 1 January 1960. This coincided with the arrival of the first full-time doctor from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Dr. Lai Giovanninowho. He came with his wife and their baby. The hospital continued to expand and offer valuable quality care. In 1973, the Italian missionaries turned over ownership of the hospital to the

, which in turn entrusted the hospital's management to the '' Sisters of Mary Immaculate''.

Hospital operations

As of December 2019, St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum attended to 33,138 outpatients annually, on average. This was approximately 10 percent of outpatients attended to in Kitgum District, on an annual basis. At that time, the hospital admitted 10,246 inpatients, accounting for approximately 36.7 percent of the annual inpatient admissions in the entire district on average. Its bed occupancy ratio averaged 69.3 percent in 2019. As of that time, St. Joseph's Hospital Kitgum delivered 1,925 babies annually, on average, with a caesarian section rate of 20.9 percent. This accounted for 24.5 percent of maternal deliveries in Kitgum District. Patient user fees accounted for approximately 15.6 percent of total hospital annual income, as of December 2019.

Governance

The

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the hospital's

Board of Governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, is

John Baptist Odama John Baptist Odama (born 20 July 1947) is a Ugandan Roman Catholic priest, who serves as the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu, in Uganda, since 2 January 1999. Background and priesthood Odama was born in Riki-O ...

, the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gulu. The Medical Superintendent and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Dr. Lawrence Ojom.

References

External links