TMR Hospital

With the foundation of TMR International Hospital in 2016 Dr. Daniel Talemwa filled a gap in the hospital coverage on the populous north side of Kampala, Uganda’s capital. 

What started as a small hospital treating less than fifty people a month is now a fully-fledged facility with more than 2,300 patients every month. In its first two years despite the good name it was building for itself, TMR struggled to improve its occupancy rate and invest in expanding its services.

However, busy running the hospital, Dr. Talemwa did not have the time nor working capital to close contracts with insurers. Such contracts are key to boosting the steady growth of the number of patients, but it also increases the need for working capital as insurers take more time to pay the bills.

XSML had already invested in a hospital of comparable size in the Democratic Republic of Congo and understood the young company’s need for patient capital to grow the hospital into one of Uganda’s leading hospitals.

Expanding hospital care
Over the past few years, XSML has invested a combination of debt and equity totaling US$ 2.14 million since 2018. TMR has grown into a full-range hospital with forty beds (32 in-patient), eight consultation rooms, an in-house laboratory, an expanded radiology department with CT scanner, four dedicated ICU beds.

It has grown its team to around hundred committed staff including more than thirty specialists, around thirty nurses and ten midwifes.

The hospital organised its equipment and beds for maximum flexibility. This means that it can easily convert all its beds into an ICU bed. This was helpful during COVID.

Improving internal process and systems
With our first technical assistance TMR hired a specialist to contract insurance companies. By now, it has contracts with twelve insurers and an occupancy level of on average more than 70%. We connected TMR with pharmacy Ecopharm for supplies and used the chain to promote the hospital in its branches.

Other TA support focused on improving administrative and accounting systems and the implementation of an ESG action plan resulting in, for example, robust health and safety measures, hospital waste management and HR policies that are frequently monitored. The ESG team (five people) inspects the hospital every week. By the end of the year the hospital should be ISO-certified.

COVID response boosted hospital profile
XSML’s latest financing in 2020 was vital to ensure the hospital could expand its ICU capacity and purchase the necessary equipment and medical consumables to treat COVID patients. A grant by FMO helped to buy the necessary materials to protect staff. During the pandemic the hospital honed its skills in emergency care and boosted its profile of a quality health provider within the community.