Kianyaga Hospital in Kirinyaga County will be upgraded to level four facility, with Sh150 million already having allocated for the project.
According to Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, the upgrading of the hospital will commence in a month’s time.
The expanded hospital will be equipped with modern diagnostic medical equipment which will handle specialised treatment in order to boost the implementation of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for the majority of people living in Gichugu Sub-County and its environs.
While affirming her commitment to leave a legacy in the health sector, Ms Waiguru said she has prioritised improvement of health facilities to ensure access to affordable and quality medical services for the people of Kirinyaga.
The governor also revealed that Kimbimbi Hospital will also be upgraded to a level four facility.
“The new hospital will be a landmark project in Gichugu Constituency. You will not need to go to Kerugoya or outside the county for treatment. All ailments will be treated here,” she said recently.
Modern facilities
The upgraded hospital will have a modern theatre, specialised maternity wards and expanded male and female wards among others.
At the same time, Kerugoya Referral Hospital, a five-storey medical complex is nearing completion. The facility has been hailed as one of its kind in the country due to its high-end standards.
Once completed, the medical complex, which is expected to be commissioned soon, will have a fully equipped ICU and a high dependency unit with a capacity of at least 15 beds, an outpatient wing, modern theatres, emergency and casualty department, paediatric, surgical and medical wards, counselling and palliative care units, a pharmacy, CT scan and X-ray. It will have specialist consultations, with a general surgeon and among others.
Oxygen plant
The medical complex, which has an estimated 340-bed capacity, will also have an oxygen plant to enable piping of medical oxygen to all the beds.
Several other medical facilities, among them health centres and dispensaries, which have been refurbished or expanded, are lined up for full operation. They include Joshua Mbai dispensary and laboratory, Kiamugumo, Kiandai, Kiamwathi, Kavote, Ndaba and Kianjiru dispensaries among others.
Governor Waiguru noted that with enough dispensaries, residents do not need to travel to higher level hospitals, which are very far, to seek treatment.
The dispensaries which are among 19 whose construction had stalled but are now on the way to completion.
Residents have been complaining that since the projects stalled, the county government has not been taking the matter seriously.
Residents now hopeful
But according to a resident, Gibson Njagi, they are now hopeful that their problems will come to an end as they will not been travelling long distances to seek treatment once the dispensaries are complete and become operational.
Once complete, the dispensaries are expected to serve at least 4,000 residents from different villages across the region.
Recently, Governor Waiguru said her administration will employ more doctors, nurses and other medical workers to work in the newly-built medical complex at the Kerugoya Level Five Hospital and Kimbimbi and Kianyaga hospitals.
More health workers
“The infrastructural development will be complemented by an expanded workforce which will create room for absorption of more medics and also enhance service delivery,” she said.
She was speaking at her residence in Kagio when she met the newly elected central branch officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union.
The governor said she is committed to transforming the health sector in Kirinyaga through building of new hospitals, upgrading of the existing ones and addressing the welfare of workers.