Our story began when the Kabaka of Buganda Kingdom (King) Mutesa I invited missionaries to come to Uganda. Despite the fairly advanced systems in Buganda Kingdom at the time, systematized medical care had not yet been introduced by the second half of the 19th century. Consequently, diseases such as sleeping sickness, syphilis, and others continued to plague the people at epidemic levels.

Realizing his subjects were in constant danger without a cure in sight, the Kabaka invited men of goodwill from England to spread their evangelism in three key ways: spread the gospel, improve healthcare, and educate the people. Mengo Hospital was born from these efforts.

The Church Missionary Society (CMS) responded to Kabaka Muteesa I’s clarion call and sent a team of missionaries to Uganda. Among them was the founder of Mengo Hospital, Dr. Sir Albert Ruskin Cook (RIP), who arrived in Uganda on February 15, 1897.

Shortly after his arrival, Sir Albert Cook realized he could not minister to the spiritual needs of the people of Uganda without first addressing their physical needs. Consequently, on February 22, 1897, he organized his first outpatient clinic under a tree on Namirembe Hill, where Mengo Hospital currently stands.

That single seed for Christian medical outreach was the tree upon which medical care in the country was founded. Since then, Mengo Hospital has been committed to providing Christ-centered, quality medical care to Ugandans for over 125 years.

To this day, Mengo Hospital continues to honour the legacy of its founder and the Father of Medical Care in Uganda, Dr. Albert Ruskin Cook, who built the hospital into a pioneer of quality medical services in Uganda and East Africa at large. The Sir Albert Cook building remains a reminder of the fortitude and vision of the hospital’s founder and houses several of the hospital’s healthcare departments.

Sir Albert Cook was not alone in his mission; he was later joined by his former wife, Lady Katherine Cook, an attending nurse who assisted in many operations. She later founded Mengo School of Nursing and Midwifery, the first and oldest of its kind in Uganda and East Africa, to train more nurses and midwives to follow in her footsteps.

Together, the Cooks paved a clear evangelical mission, providing curative care as a precursor to their moral cure. Mengo Hospital continues to carry the banner as a “Christian Medical Witness.”