The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) will begin commissioning 24 new hospitals this weekend.
NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi on Thursday, February 12, indicated that President Uhuru Kenyatta would be launching two hospitals every weekend until April when all hospitals will be commissioned.
Of the 24 hospitals, 19 facilities had been built from the ground up at a cost of Ksh70 million each. The remaining five used a total of Ksh300 million to be refurbished.
He added that all 84 wards in Nairobi will have at least a hospital that will bring health services closer to them.
The facilities that will be launched are in; Soweto kayole, Uthiru, Kiamiko, Ushirika, Viwandani, Majengo, Mathare, Korogocho, Kawangware, Gitare, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mukuru kwa Reuben, Kibera and Githurai 44.
"The level two and three facilities that have been under construction since last August are now ready for use," Badi affirmed.
During his Jamhuri Day speech, Kenyatta revealed that the Ksh2 billion project will see the bed capacity of Nairobi County-run hospitals increase by 280.
The building of the new facilities is in line with the Universal Health Care (UHC) goals, which Kenya hopes to attain by 2022. UHC seeks to ensure that citizens have easy access to affordable, yet quality healthcare.
UHC is an integral part of the Big Four Agenda.
In November 2020, the Head of State launched a Ksh 846 million hospital built in a record time of three months in Nairobi.
The specific hospital had been funded by the Government of Kenya, the United Nations (UN) and the Nairobi Hospital. It will be used to offer treatment to Covid-19 patients in the East African region.
