BY THE ARUSHA NEWS REPORTER
Celebrations to mark one hundred years since the opening of Arusha’s Mount Meru Regional Referral Hospital will climax on Tuesday with a series of community activities offering free health screening and specialist treatment.
The Medical Officer in Charge, Dr Alex Ernest, said the celebrations also included free medical and blood donation camps. He urged residents to donate blood, saying the hospital uses between 450 and 550 units each month to meet patients’ needs.
Earlier, the hospital had provided dental services and kidney screening in Ngorongoro, Longido and Karatu districts, extending specialist healthcare to rural communities. The centenary comes amid improvements in specialised care, including the introduction of chemotherapy, endoscopy and modern emergency services.
Dr Ernest said the government had invested more than Sh5.4 billion in the hospital since 2020 to improve infrastructure, purchase medical equipment, strengthen medicine supplies and increase specialist personnel.The investment included an oxygen production plant costing Sh1.75 billion, supporting premature babies and other patients requiring oxygen.
The hospital has also adopted digital systems, including the one dubbed “Ongea na Waziri”, Kiswahili for “Talk to the Minister” to improve communication with patients and strengthen transparency and accountability.
The hospital has a history spanning over a century, evolving from a small treatment post for wounded soldiers during World War One near the end of 1915 under German colonial rule, to one of Tanzania’s major public medical centres currently. Following the merger of the Mount Meru and Nduruma sections, the hospital was officially opened on November 26, 1926.
After a series of upgrades, including a community campaign in 1996-98 led by the then Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye, the hospital was on November 12, 2010 conferred with Regional Referral Status, serving over two million people in Arusha Region, covering Arusha City, Arumeru, Karatu, Longido, Monduli and Ngorongoro districts.
