Bringing Care Home: Dr. David Mayanja’s vision for a new era of healthcare in Uganda

In a quiet but transformative shift within Uganda’s health sector, a new model of care is emerging, one that takes treatment from crowded hospital wards directly into the comfort of patients’ homes. At the forefront of this innovation is Dr. David Mayanja, Chief Executive Officer of Watertown Health Services Uganda.

Operating from Kampala, at Cham Towers, Watertown Health Services Uganda is pioneering home-based healthcare, a system widely practiced in countries like the United States but still in its early stages locally. The model is simple yet impactful: trained nurses and supervised medical professionals provide care to patients within their own homes.

“We felt it was time to introduce this model to Uganda because it has been working in other parts of the world,” Dr. Mayanja says. “Patients deserve comfort, dignity, and personalized attention during treatment.”

Under this approach, patients receive dedicated nursing care tailored to their conditions. Nurses are deployed to homes to manage ongoing treatment, monitor progress, and provide day-to-day support. However, Dr. Mayanja emphasizes that clinical decisions remain the responsibility of qualified physicians.

“Our nurses do not diagnose or alter treatment plans, that is strictly the work of doctors,” he explains. “Doctors visit and supervise care, ensuring that patients receive professional and safe medical attention.”

The service also incorporates collaboration with independent doctors, enabling patient referrals at relatively lower costs. This, Dr. Mayanja notes, not only improves access to care but also eases the burden on overstretched health facilities.

Uganda’s hospitals, particularly in urban centers, often struggle with congestion, long waiting times, and limited space. By shifting certain categories of care into homes, Watertown Health Services Uganda is helping to decongest hospitals while offering patients privacy and a more humane treatment experience.

“Some patients require specialized attention or long-term care that hospitals may not efficiently provide due to capacity constraints,” Dr. Mayanja says. “Home-based care gives them the attention they need without compromising their dignity.”

Beyond patient care, the initiative is also addressing another pressing issue—employment within the health sector. Dr. Mayanja says the idea was partly inspired by the need to create opportunities for Uganda’s growing pool of trained medical professionals.

“This is a new industry in Uganda. We are creating jobs and empowering scientists, especially doctors and nurses, who are highly skilled but sometimes underutilized,” he says.

Currently focused in Kampala, the company has already set its sights on expansion. Plans are underway to extend services to western Uganda, particularly Mbarara, and northern Uganda, including Gulu, regions where access to specialized healthcare can be more limited.

As part of this growth, Watertown Health Services Uganda is actively recruiting registered and certified nurses and doctors to join its network, signaling both ambition and confidence in the model’s future.

Health experts have increasingly pointed to home-based care as a viable complement to traditional hospital systems, particularly in managing chronic illnesses, post-surgical recovery, and elderly care. If successfully scaled, this approach could redefine how healthcare is delivered across Uganda.

For Dr. Mayanja, the mission goes beyond business. “At the end of the day, it’s about improving lives,” he says. “We want patients to feel safe, respected, and well cared for , right where they are.”

As Uganda’s healthcare landscape continues to evolve, initiatives like Watertown Health Services Uganda may well signal a turning point, where care is no longer confined to hospital walls, but brought closer to the people who need it most.