The Nyeri government is constructing level 4 hospital in Kieni East subcounty at Sh335 million.
Governor Mutahi Kahiga, while launching the construction on Thursday, said the project is being funded by the county government and World Bank under the Kenya Devolution Support Programme.
The facility is being constructed in Narumoru town near the Nyeri–Nanyuki Road. It will serve as a referral facility for Kieni East residents who have been seeking the services in Nanyuki, Laikipia county, or Nyeri town, which is miles away. The facility will have a three-storey building with a 175-bed capacity.
The building will be completed in the next 20 months and will host key departments such as general OPD, casualty, pharmacy, laboratory, maternal and child health unit.
Others are specialised clinics, maternity, inpatient wards (medicine, orthopaedic, surgical) and two operating theatres. The entire Kieni constituency, despite covering 52 per cent of the county, has no level-four hospital. The constituency is made up of two subcounties, Kieni East and West.
Lack of a level-four facility makes it difficult for residents seeking optimal care such as surgical intervention.
“Upgrading of Narumoru Health Centre to a hospital will guarantee the provision of surgical and inpatient services and ultimately contribute to decongestion of the Nyeri County Referral Hospital where they currently refer all their surgical cases,” Kahiga said.
The facility was started in 1971 as a dispensary but has grown to a health centre serving 80,000 residents.
“The health centre offers curative, preventive, promotive and rehabilitative services with a very busy maternity unit,” the governor said.
The number of deliveries per month at the health centre has increased from 15 to 60 since the Jubilee government introduced free maternity services.
It only offers outpatient services with an estimated attendance of 50,000 cases per year.
This, he said, is a workload equivalent to that of a level 4 hospital.
The administration will, after the project completion, embark on the construction of a mortuary, a modern kitchen, staff quarters and a laundry unit.
“To supplement these infrastructural developments, the county through the support of the national government will also receive equipment for the new-born and maternity units. This will go a long way in improving care to our mothers and newborns,” he announced.
To strengthen primary healthcare by taking health services to the household level, the governor said, his administration has procured biochemistry and haematology analysers for health centre laboratories.
The county will also continue equipping and staffing them.
Specialised medical and dental equipment for various health facilities have also been procured.
They include six dental units, specialised urology and laparoscopic tower, 400 KVA generators for power backup and general diagnostic and theatre equipment, he said.
“This is aimed at building diagnostic capacity at our primary health care facilities as well as improving specialised medical care in county hospitals."
Nyeri speaker John Kaguchia who was present praised the good working relationship between the executive and the county assembly.
Edited by R.Wamochie
