Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Wednesday, December 7, revealed plans by his government to assume control of the Mama Margret Kenya hospital facility in Korogocho, less than a year after the facility was handed over to the national government.
While appearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Sakaja noted the transfer of the facility to the National government put pressure on the Mama Lucy Hospital which was left as the only referral facility available in the region.
As such, the governor noted that he was in talks with President William Ruto and Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha to have the facility back under the control of Nairobi county. He, however, assured that the former First Lady's name would be retained in honour of the past regime.
The Korogocho facility operated under the management of the County Government before the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) stepped in to upgrade it to a Level Five.
Upon its completion, the hospital was placed under the Ministry of Health under the then regime of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“If you go to Mbagathi, the nurses, and doctors are smiling because they are happy but if you go to Mama Lucy they are not.
"The pressure in Mama Lucy would have been reduced with the Korogocho facility," he stated while responding to questions raised regarding the alleged neglect from health workers at the Mama Lucy Hospital.
According to the Nairobi County Chief, his administration embarked on a restructuring plan to ensure that all health facilities are operational and subsequently ensure even distribution of patients.
He stated that all hospitals will have administrators tasked with the role of ensuring that health facilities run operations smoothly in dispensing services to members of the public.
In addition, Governor Sakaja noted that his government was working on ironing out hiccups hindering the effectiveness of health facilities in Nairobi. The governor noted that most of the health centres launched under the previous regime were done hurriedly and were yet to reach the services to the public.
"A lot was done just to make the former president happy. A lot of things were done for the cameras. We want to do the real radical stuff that is needed to serve the people of Nairobi," he told the senators.
City Hall was put on the spot after a woman died at Mama Lucy Hospital, with reports indicating that she was left unattended and struggling with excess bleeding.
Calls of negligence in public health facilities within Nairobi prompted an intervention from the Senators with an aim of establishing the reality of the situation in public hospitals.
