Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru on Wednesday, March 11 inspected the construction of a modern hospital complex at the Kerugoya Referral Hospital.
The facility, whose construction begun mid-2019, is halfway built and expected to be completed by September 2020.
The project is in line with the county government's massive reforms in the health sector in order to boost the implementation of President Uhuru Kenyatta's Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
While inspecting the facility, Waiguru revealed that the complex had a 250 -bed capacity inpatient section that will add to the existing space to make it a 500-bed capacity facility and added that the project was geared towards transforming the county into a wellness city.
She was accompanied by Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for State Department of Public Works Wavinya Ndeti.
The project is fully funded by the county government to the tune of Ksh1 billion with technical support from the national government.
Waiguru stated that the facility would elevate Kerugoya Referral Hospital into level five status, meaning patients from the region currently being referred for treatment in higher facilities would be able to access treatment at Kerugoya.
“We are going to move our hospital from a level four to a level five, meaning it will have facilities that we currently don’t have such as ICU, HDU and we will also get support from the national government because level five hospitals get extra support from the national government in terms of running it, to ensure that it provides a certain level of services,” Waiguru stated.
The facility will have an ICU, HDU, an outpatient wing, theatre, emergency and casualty department, pediatric, surgical and medical wards, counselling and palliative care, pharmacy, CT scan and X-ray. The hospital will have specialist consultations, with a general surgeon, paediatrician, ENT, physician, obstetrician and gynaecologist among others.
To improve service delivery and improved hygiene standards, the county has refurbished the outpatient department and constructed a modern laundry and kitchen unit at the referral hospital.
A renal unit with nine dialysis machines at the hospital will serve to alleviate the suffering among kidney patients who earlier sought services from private providers or at hospitals outside the county.
A 20-bed capacity eye unit has also been established at the hospital. The unit was constructed in partnership with Operation Eye-Sight and the county is now seeking for more collaboration in equipping the unit.
The County Government has in the past two years purchased three ambulances bring to a total of six that are serving the county. The ambulances have enhanced emergency services in the county especially the evacuation of road accident victims as well as transferring patients requiring specialized care.
To improve on mother and child care, the county government has built maternity wards in various hospitals in order to increase the bed capacity and create a conducive environment for mothers delivering at the facilities.
The county has built a 40-bed capacity maternity ward at Kimbimbi Sub County Hospital and 60-bed capacity mother and child unit at Sagana Sub County Hospital.
A male ward has also been constructed at Baricho Heath Center, X-ray departments established in various hospitals and six generators installed in Kibimbi, Uceru, Kangaru, Kiamutugu, Mutithi and Murinduko health facilities.
The county has also benefitted from a Ksh. 100 million Post Crash Trauma Center which will be constructed at Sagana Sub County Hospital.
