- The Uplands Forest Dispensary, which is popularly known as Ha Forester, was built in 1950’s by British colonialists
- After gaining independence, the dispensary was taken over by the Ministry of Health.
Horror tales of how women and children walked inside a cold woodland to seek medical care in a public hospital in the middle of Uplands Forest in Kiambu county will be no more.
This is after the Kiambu county government closed down the hospital in July and opened a new facility at Ha Gachira area, about 500 meters from Nyambare Githunguri road in Lari constituency.
The Uplands Forest Dispensary, which is popularly known as Ha Forester, was built in 1950’s by British colonialists and has been serving residents mainly from Lari Kirenga and a few from Githiga ward.
After gaining independence, the dispensary was taken over by the Ministry of Health.
Salome Wanjiku, 76, said colonialists set up the dispensary in the forest because many of them lived and operated from there.
Wanjiku said among the offices they used are now occupied by the Kenya Forest Service.
“The dispensary was mainly meant to serve the white settlers and their servants, but we were not denied medical services. We used to get treatment and other checkups,” she said.
Wanjiku said residents have been calling for the relocation of the facility to their villages since the journey to the facility was troublesome and needed better preparation to walk through the forest due to insecurity.
“The distance from where one alights from a matatu along the Nyambare-Githunguri road to the hospital is about three kilometres. There is no other means, other than walking inside the Uplands Forest,” she said.
“If it rained, you would get rained on so badly. Insecurity is another issue. Thugs would attack patients and rob them money and other valuables as one could not run away,” Wanjiku added.
George Mbugua, another resident, said they were sometimes forced to walk to the hospital as a group.
“When I was a child, our parents would ask who else in the village was sick and intended to go to the hospital so that we could walk as a group. One would stay with their sicknesses for two to three days, as we waited for a company,” Mbugua said.
“Many are times when we walked in a group of five up to 10 people, with different ailments, including expectant women, who sought for antenatal clinic services at the facility”.
Lari Kirenga MCA Joseph Karichu said after expectant women were issued with the expected date of delivery and were near delivery, they were referred to either Tigoni Hospital in Limuru or Kiambu County Hospital as the facility did not offer maternity services.
“The dispensary did not have maternity and even today it does not have. Even if they check on expectant women, they refer them to the public hospitals where they can be attended to,” Karichu said.
The MCA said the county government spent over Sh2 million to relocate the hospital.
Locals have thanked Kiambu Governor James Nyoro for relocating the hospital to an area they can easily access.
They also applauded Nyoro for improving Lari Level 4 Hospital.
Nyoro said they were forced to upgrade the hospital after converting Tigoni Level 5 Hospital to a county Covid-19 centre, to separate patients with coronavirus from those with other diseases.
“We had to add staff, specialists, services and equip all hospitals that are near Tigoni,” Nyoro said.
He added that they have improved services at the dispensaries.
Trizah Munyua, the nurse at the new Ha Gachira dispensary, said since they relocated, many are seeking treatment at their convenience.
“We are recording many patients every day. It is not like the time we were in the forest. People are now seeking medical attention quickly,” Munyua said.