Karonga District Hospital to introduce paying section in August this year

Malawi: The Karonga District Hospital (KDH) is planning to introduce a paying section in August this year in order to improve finances for the daily operations of the district health office in order to provide quality health services.

Clement Gonthi, Karonga district health administrator, confirmed in an interview that the funds allocated for the hospital's daily operations do not meet the needs of the district health office.

As a result, in accordance with the health sector strategic plan 3, which encourages district and public hospitals to have a private wing to generate funds for the district office, KDH is expected to begin with an outpatient department paying section on August 1st this year.

He has stated that the district health office is currently facing challenges such as insufficient fuel and drugs, and that 60 percent of the money generated from the paying section will help to alleviate these challenges because, according to the guidelines, 60 percent of the outcome is intended for daily operations and 40 percent is intended for staff motivation.

"We wanted to start on July 1st, but because we haven't finalised the plans, we have pushed it to August 1st, so by August 1st, you will find a poster at the district hospital's gate telling you that we are now providing paying services and there will be health workers to escort anyone who wants to go to a paying section," Gonthi explained.