President William Ruto on Tuesday, June 13, launched the Kerugoya Level Five County Referral Hospital whose construction was overseen by Governor Anne Waiguru since 2017.
During the launch, Waiguru revealed that the project was ideated from the county's city plan whose design and construction were accomplished by local residents and professional workers.
Geoffrey Macharia is the architect behind the iconic building that dominates the Kerugoya Town skyline.
Slide through the photo using the dot at the centre to view the transformation.
"I told the architect to look at some of the hospitals that were built in Nairobi so that he could come up with a hospital that meets the standards we wanted.
"I must recognise our architect for drawing that hospital. I want to ask the board not to wait for long before he is promoted to the highest level position. He has been significant in setting up that hospital," she stated.
The 5-storey building boasts top-of-the-range facilities including the first-ever county Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as well as departments for oncology, dermatology and neonatal care.
Other facilities are neuro-paediatrics, gynaecology, and obstetrics - expected to provide care for expectant mothers.
"With an inpatient capacity of 341 beds, the new hospital will ease pressure on Kerugoya Level Four Hospital. The beds in the wards are fitted with oxygen gas that is produced at the hospital’s medical gas plant.
"The hospital has a fully equipped emergency as well as trauma and casualty wing equipped with eight observation beds, a designated X-ray centre and an operating theatre," read the statement in part.
At the launch, Waiguru also revealed that the facility will employ 427 medics to attend to patients with plans to employ 47 specialised doctors already in motion.
Ruto, on the other hand, praised the governor for building the state-of-the-art facility which he indicated was crucial in the delivery of affordable healthcare for residents.
"It takes a woman and a leader with a vision to achieve the most important things. She was courageous and that is why we have an iconic health facility in the county.
"The hospital has been built with funds that were collected from Kenyans. That is the only avenue we can build the country," he stated.
