•The government will engage the graduates through the Public Service Commission which has already put in place the internship program.
•It is developing a policy that will take care of all the cadres in the health sector known as the internship policy.
The Ministry of Health plans to hire 4,000 medical interns from January to improve service delivery and offer graduates a chance to acquire skills.
The acting health director general Wekesa Masasabi on Friday said he has already requested for the approval of the placements.
The government will engage the graduates through the Public Service Commission which has already put in place the internship programme.
“The ministry has requested for the approval of 4,000 vacancies for various cadres in health. I am sure by January we shall start engaging some interns as part of the programme,” he said.
The government, he said, is developing an internship policy that will take care of all the cadres in the health sector.
This will also help the government in the implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The director general said the ministry is specifically prioritising four key service delivery areas as part of UHC, one being community health service. The government will engage community health workers and train them.
“We are going to train them through the various Kenya Medical Training Colleges. We are also going to embrace public health services and health systems strengthening which include health records, human resource for health, healthcare financing among others,” he said.
The government will also enhance the provision of medicine and medical supplies, he said.
This, he said, calls for the investment in the recruitment, motivation and retention for human resource for health.
Nyeri county Health executive Rachel Kamau said the county government has identified some gaps in the health sectors which include lack of staff.
Kamau said the county government has employed over 200 health workers since 2008 adding that it will also soon advertise vacancies for 59 nurses.
They spoke during the eighth graduation ceremony of Outspan Medical College in Nyeri on Saturday. Some 380 students graduated during the event with various qualifications.