Mbarara Hospital’s New Power Line Targets a Costly Diesel Bill

Keeping the power on at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital has, at times, meant spending up to six million shillings a week on generator fuel. That money kept essential services running when electricity failed. Now a dedicated power line is giving the hospital a more reliable supply and a chance to shift resources from backup generation to patient care, according to Nile Post Uganda (direct).

The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) recently installed and handed over the dedicated 33kV, or 33,000-volt, three-phase connection. It replaces the hospital’s dependence on a shared electricity line that left it exposed to interruptions. Dr Deus Twesigye, the hospital’s Senior Consultant General Surgeon and Acting Senior Executive Consultant, announced the development at a staff meeting on operations for the 2026/27 financial year. He said interruptions had already fallen significantly.

A fuel bill with a human cost

For the hospital, reliable electricity is about more than keeping lights on. The Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, operating theatres, Radiology and clinical laboratories all depend on continuous power. An interruption can disrupt surgery, diagnostic work or patient monitoring. Under the previous arrangement, critical departments switched to standby generators when the shared supply went down, keeping services operating but adding to the hospital’s fuel spending.

Hospital engineer Ssemata Patrick said prolonged outages had pushed generator fuel costs into millions of shillings each week. At some points, the weekly bill reached six million shillings. The dedicated connection is expected to reduce that expense, leaving more resources available for patient care. The hospital has not put a figure on the savings it expects, but the engineer identified lower generator use as a direct financial benefit of the new supply.

The dedicated line should cut generator fuel spending and leave more resources for patient care, hospital engineer Ssemata Patrick said.

There is also expensive equipment to protect. Hospital Public Relations Officer Halson Kagure said sudden interruptions could damage machines, including the hospital’s MRI scanner, which produces detailed medical images. Repairs can be extremely costly, he said. A steadier supply therefore addresses two concerns: the disruption to medical work when power fails and the potential expense of repairing equipment affected by those interruptions.

Most units connected, more to follow

The new line feeds the hospital’s substation, where electricity passes through a circuit breaker, a protective switch, before transformers lower its voltage for use across the hospital. Most major units are already connected. The interns’ hostels and the Infectious Diseases Treatment Centre are expected to join the system in phases, extending the reach of the dedicated supply.

Twesigye nevertheless urged staff to control consumption. The hospital is working on installing photocell sensors, which respond to light levels, while staff have been told to switch off lights during daylight hours and in empty offices and consultation rooms. For a major referral facility serving western Uganda, the next steps are completing the remaining connections and keeping electricity use in check so that a more reliable supply also delivers the intended cost relief.