Othaya Level Six Hospital, constructed at a cost of Ksh1 billion, in Nyeri county, is allegedly yet to treat a single patient despite having been declared operational on August 2, 2018.
A report by The Standard revealed that health facility which was set to become the first teaching and referral facility in the greater Mt Kenya region was yet to open up its doors to the public.
Nyeri County head of communication, Carol Nderi, speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, confirmed that the facility was yet to be opened after it was handed over to the national government due to its level 6 status.
"Given that it's a referral hospital, we handed it over to the national government and we are waiting on them as well," she disclosed.
A local resident, Ryan Nderitu, bemoaned the inaccessibility to much-needed services at the facility.
"We were very optimistic that the new state of the art hospital would be able to handle cases that were previously referred to Kenyatta National Hospital and thus save us from the high cost of travelling to Nairobi for treatment," Mr Nderitu remarked.
A local boda boda operator, Lawrence Wachira, echoed Mr Nderitu's sentiments adding that numerous families within the county with ailing loved ones were forced to hold fundraisers to send the sick to hospitals as far as India for treatment that could have easily been treated at the highly equipped local hospital.
Mahiga MCA, James Kanyugo, also weighed in on the matter and affirmed that the facility was indeed non-operational.
"This hospital has taken too long to commence operations. We are urging the national government to fast-track it to ease the burden on the county," he divulged.
The county leaders have been reportedly pushing for the facility to be opened ever since Health Principal Secretary (PS) Peter Tum announced it would operational almost a year ago.
