MUHANGA – Patients at Kabgayi Hospital in Muhanga district have raised complaints over lack of medication for over the past months, despite having medical insurance.

Patients allege that they are being asked to purchase medicine from private pharmacies which raised concerns over the effectiveness of their medical insurance, Mutuelle de Sante.

The newly appointed hospital director, Sr. Dr. Béata Murekatete, confirmed the development when contacted on Tuesday, and attributed the problem to a financial deficit caused by unpaid dues.

"The pharmacy is a very essential part of the hospital.  99 percent of our patients use Mutuelle de santé from Ruhango, Muhanga and Kamonyi districts. However, we have not been paid over Rwf236m by the Ministry of Health since 2007,” Murekatete said.

Inside sources, however, allege that the current problem has been partly caused by a Rwf18m financial loss incurred by the hospital pharmacy.

But Murekatete says that there has been poor functioning in the pharmaceutical department in the past months and an audit is currently being carried out.

There are fears that the financial problems may escalate in the future and affect salaries of hospital staff.

The Director says that the ministry has agreed to pay half of the debt on Mutuelle funds, but insists that the hospital is also facing a problem of unpaid arrears from major clients like.  She also revealed that the hospital owes CAMERWA, the country’s distributor of pharmaceutical products,Frw35 million CAMERWA.

Kabgayi hospital is one of the national referral hospitals located in Muhanga district in the southern province and handles hundreds of patients on a daily basis.

Most of the patients have also complained over delays in services and getting medical attention despite the fact that some travel very long distance but hospital administration says that this is caused by lack of medical staff.

The Bishop of Kabgayi Diocese, Smargade Mbonyintege, has in the past asked medics and health experts to improve their services.

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