The Nakuru County Government has commissioned the Sh157 Million Njoro Tier 4 Sub-County Hospital giving a major boost to the provision of healthcare services in the decentralized unit.

Governor Lee Kinyanjui said the hospital is the tenth new state-of-the-art medical facility in the county. This was part of his administration’s 1.8 billion shilling health facility upgrade program in the 11 sub-counties.

While announcing that the facility will be open to the public within five weeks, the governor said his administration will achieve its goal of having modern inpatient and outpatient facilities in every sub-county by June this year.

He added, “We are also setting up trauma centers at Nakuru Tier 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital, Naivasha and Salgaa to accommodate accident victims.”

The self-contained complex includes a modern maternity and neonatal wing, pharmacy, x-ray machines and modern laboratories. The facility also houses an outpatient complex, accident and emergency unit, imaging center, and theaters, among other essential services.

Kinyanjui said the outpatient complex will also provide the highest level of medical training and the best quality of specialist healthcare services.

He said the new facility was designed to provide health care services to more than 200,000 residents of Njoro, Molo, Kuresoi North, Kuresoi South Njoro sub-counties, parts of Rongai ward and areas. adjacent.

Prior to its upgrade, the hospital also accommodated injured patients received from the infamous Sobea-Salgaa-Sachangwan-Mau Summit-Makutano crash black spot along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

Initially, congestion affected service delivery, forcing most patients, especially accident victims, to be referred to Nakuru Level Five Hospital.

The facility will additionally house trauma/accident and emergency rooms, obstetrics, gynecology, ophthalmology, pharmacy, radiology and radiation therapy, and minor surgery, among other departments.

“For the past four and a half years, my administration has focused on providing quality and affordable medical services to all residents. This facility will complement the already completed 650 million Sh. of Gilgil and the 60 million shillings level 4 health facility at Karuswa in Bahati sub-county,” explained the Governor.

Other health care facilities nearing completion include the 60 million shillings outpatient complex at Olenguruone Health Center and the modern 330 million shillings outpatient complex at the sub-county referral hospital. of Naivasha, which should be operational within the next 3 months.

This latest project is a partnership between the county and national governments and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen).

Kinyanjui said the investment in modern outpatient units in the decentralized unit is part of the county administration’s efforts to revamp the county’s health sector and improve the efficiency of emergency response.

The county administration, he said, wanted to decongest the Nakuru Tier 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital by upgrading all the hospitals in the sub-county.

The Tier 5 hospital serves more than eight counties in the South Rift Region, including Bomet, Kericho, Samburu, Baringo, Nyandarua and Laikipia, where 2,000 patients are treated daily, of whom 750 are hospitalized.

Acting County Executive Committee Member for Health Dr. Immaculate Maina noted that malaria, respiratory system diseases, skin diseases, diarrhea and intestinal parasites were major challenges in health care facilities. county outpatient care.

The new facilities, she noted, would provide easily accessible health services to Kenyans in the county and beyond.

“Huge investments in outpatient health facilities are still needed to improve health services across the county. We are looking at ways to increase the budget allocation and are seeking donor support.

It is necessary to realize that common health problems including accidental injuries, urinary tract infections, eye infections, rheumatism and other infections are treated by outpatient facilities. Together, these top ten conditions account for nearly four-fifths of the total number of reported outpatient cases,” the CEC noted.

She added, “55-60% of health care needs in Nakuru are due to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, mental illnesses, malnutrition and asthma, among others. We have prioritized the provision of appropriate health care services for these elements in the design, staffing and equipment of our new health facilities”.

According to the county health department, the outpatient wings will also offer diagnostic testing, dental health care and dermatology, among other essential services.

“We are seeing an increased influx of referrals from other hospitals and health centers in the Great Rift Valley. Our strategy is not only to cope with numbers, but above all to offer quality and affordable disease diagnosis, management and treatment services.

The laboratories, pharmacy and X-ray facilities within the self-contained facility will be for outpatients only and will ensure a faster and more efficient process of laboratory testing, X-ray services and medication distribution. Initially, inpatients and outpatients competed for the same facilities,” Maina pointed out.

The county runs 184 health facilities including dispensaries, health centers, level four hospitals and Nakuru level five hospital.

With 6 billion shillings, the Nakuru Health Department got the lion’s share of the 2020/2021 budget of 15 billion shillings. This represents nearly 36% of the budget. Part of the funds was allocated to the construction of these new health infrastructures and the purchase of modern medical equipment.

By Anne Mwale and Hellen Kivaya