Juba Teaching Hospital pays at least SSP 12 million to Juba Electric Distribution Company Ltd. (JEDCO) every day to keep its electricity on around the clock, a cost its director general says is placing a heavy financial burden on the public health facility.
Dr. Anthony Lupai made the remarks during the inauguration of South Sudan’s first population-based cancer registry at the hospital on Monday.
He said the hospital had struggled for four to five days to maintain a reliable power supply. The facility relies on solar power, generators, and grid electricity. Still, each source comes with problems: the solar system is not working well, generators need fuel that is expensive, and the JEDCO grid is costly.
“The national city grid, which is JEDCO, is very expensive. We have to pay not less than 12 million pounds per day to have 24-hour JEDCO power,” Lupai said.
He questioned whether the hospital can cover these costs through cost-sharing, the system under which patients contribute to the price of their treatment. Lupai noted that most patients who come to the public facility cannot afford medical bills, as those with money go to private hospitals.
The Director General warned that interruptions in electricity supply affect other hospital operations, potentially disrupting services across different departments.
“Once the power is not set, other services in the hospital are all crippled. It creates a vicious cycle where one affects the other, and the net result is that we struggle,” he said. “When the population has enough money, the hospital will also have enough money.”
Lupai said unreliable electricity affects hospital operations. He appealed to the highest authorities to ensure a continuous power supply to the hospital that does not depend on cost-sharing revenue.
He called on the government to intervene by ensuring the hospital receives a continuous electricity supply without relying on its limited internal resources. He further proposed government intervention through JEDCO to guarantee uninterrupted electricity.
“It should come that, if need be, we would like to hear a decree that JEDCO should provide 24 hours to Juba Teaching Hospital,” Dr. Lupai said. “That would make us happy, because it’s not going to affect other services that are running the hospital.”
The electricity concerns come as Juba Teaching Hospital undergoes modernization under a China Aid program, with construction works expected to improve the facility’s infrastructure and service delivery.
However, Lupai warned that the expansion would require greater preparation, particularly in ensuring adequate electricity and financial resources to operate the upgraded facilities.
“More power is going to be needed, which means more resources are also needed,” he said.
Dr. Lupai urged the government, development partners, businesses and other stakeholders to support the hospital in addressing its challenges, saying reliable electricity was essential to improving healthcare services for the population.
JEDCO is a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) company comprising Ezra Construction & Development Group Ltd. (ECDG) [52% shares] and South Sudan Electricity Corporation (SSEC) [48% shares].
JEDCO was established in May 2018 after securing the Power Purchase Agreement with the Government of South Sudan.
JEDCO, the only licensed electricity distribution company, receives electricity from the ECDG power plant and distributes it in Juba.
and then