By the 2^ND half of the 19^th Century, Christianity and western medical care had not reached Uganda.  Ugandans were in “Spiritual darkness”; they believed in and practiced witchcraft. Diseases like Sleeping sickness and Syphilis were occurring at epidemic levels in the country.

Realizing that his subjects needed the “light”, the then King of Buganda Sekabaka Mutesa 1 invited men of Good will from England to come and evangelize; to bring the “light” that consisted  of three important elements namely: Evangelism, Health care and education.

It is upon this that the founding of Mengo Hospital rose.

In response to the King’s invitation mentioned above, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) of England sent a team of Missionaries to Uganda. In the team was a Physician, Dr. Sir Albert Ruskin Cook (RIP), who arrived in Uganda on 15th February 1897.

Soon after his arrival, Dr. Cook realized that if he were to minister to the spiritual lives of the people of Uganda, he had to give attention to their enormous physical problems as well. Consequently, on 22^nd February 1897, Sir Dr. Cook held his first outpatient clinic under a tree on Namirembe hill, present day Mengo Hospital. With that single event, the first seed for the Christian Medical work in Uganda was planted. Ever since, that work has continued to grow and to develop in size and scope uninterrupted for the last 124 years. Thus, Mengo hospital started the journey of being a ‘’Christian Medical Witness.”

Since then, Mengo Hospital honors its founder and the Father of Modern Medicine Dr. Sir Ruskin Albert Cook who turned the present day Mengo Hospital into the pioneer of modern medicine in Uganda and East Africa at large. Mengo Hospital ‘s operations ensure that the Sir Albert Cook legacy continues, and the Sir Albert Cook Building houses several health care services in Mengo Hospital.