Public-Private Partnerships and Healthcare Delivery: A case of Mbarara

Public-Private Partnerships in healthcare is one of the approaches that has been embraced in Uganda. In Mbarara municipality there are facilities that have embraced the partnerships and the study in four private health facilities bases on some of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) facilities to ascertain the contribution of these private partners. The study used mixed methods - qualitative and quantitative. From the findings, 67.2% of the patients who sought services from these facilities were females and 32.8% males, average number of days inpatients (admitted) spent in the hospital was 3 days and for outpatient department, patients were spending an average of 81.6 minutes. The services supported under the partnership include: ART drugs and HIV/AIDS care, immunization, maternal child health, anti-malarial treatment. The study concluded that Public Private Partnership in health are making a significant contribution, clients appreciate the healthcare packages under the partnerships. Patients turn up in faith-based facilities was higher than in non-faith based. PPP have created external links with other countries as they offer charities and donations to further subsidize the services.