3.2. Primary Care Services:

Primary care services to the people in Central Province are delivered through Divisional Hospitals (DH) and Primary Medical Care Units (PMCU). In Central Province the total number of Primary care institutes stands at 153 as of 2018.

The Divisional hospitals provide both outpatient and inpatient care including the provision of basic health facilities for the treatment of minor ailments, referral to secondary and tertiary care institutions for further treatment, provision of prenatal care and follow up of patients referred from secondary or tertiary care institutions. On the other hand Primary Care Units concentrate on outpatient services.

Although these institutions are also being developed to provide quality health care for the local area population, as aforementioned, the general trend is to seek medical care from secondary or tertiary care institutions, driven by the probable misconception that the bigger the hospital the better the care.

This has seen to a significant reduction in the bed occupancy rate at primary care institutions as compared to larger hospitals in urban areas of the province, attributing to the hazardously disproportionate utilization of available facilities. It is notable that the bed occupancy rate of primary care hospitals in the province is still below 40%.

Table 3.2.1. Basic information and services delivered in primary care institutions (DHs & PMCUs) by District: