- Nyoro said the facility will act as a storage and dispatch centre for medical supplies for the 114 health facilities in Kiambu.
- He said that the region has suffered from unreliable supply of drugs and non-medical supplies.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
The Kiambu county government has began building a central medical store at Ruiru Level 4 Hospital.
Governor James Nyoro said the facility will act as a storage and dispatch centre for medical supplies for the 114 health facilities in Kiambu.
He said that the region has continued to suffer from unreliable supply of drugs and non-medical supplies.
He blamed it on lack of a central medical store to receive and manage medical supplies as well as coordinate their distribution to health facilities across the county, monitor usage and make timely orders.
“The suffering will soon be a thing of the past because funds are intact for the project. The facility once complete will help stabilise supplies and predictability of the same," Nyoro said.
"We will have a modern warehousing facility to store the medical supplies we get from Kemsa and other dealers who supply us,” Nyoro said.
He spoke when he opened the hospital’s new block, constructed by the county government at a cost of Sh65 million.
The governor said the facility will provide reliable supplies, avoid low stock levels or expired drugs, ensure value for money, and promote uninterrupted sustainable health services.
Nyoro said the facility will be automated and a health system management put in place to monitor medical supplies availability in all county health facilities.
This he said will ensure uninterrupted supply of drugs and other medical supplies in all health facilities.
The county chief, who was accompanied by Ruiru MP Simon King’ara, MCAs and other county dignitaries, reiterated that his administration is determined to streamline and enhance health service delivery to Kiambu residents and non-residents.
“We have opened new health facilities within the county like Ruiru and soon Wangige. Others like Githunguri, Bibirioni and Juja are underway. We are doing all this to make health services accessible by all across the county,” the governor said.
He said the county government has made tremendous strides in the health sector since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that the county’s bed capacity has increased from the previous 2,000 to over ,.
The county government has installed bulk oxygen at Gatundu, Kiambu and Thika hospitals as well as the county’s Covid-19 centre in Tigoni.
“We have also increased the number of intensive care unit beds from five to 32 and to enhance the capacity of the ICUs, the county has procured more ventilators and monitors,” he added.
King’ara hailed the county government for the noble project, saying that the thorny issue over lack of sufficient drugs in health facilities will come to an end once the facility is complete.
“Our people will now be assured that they will get medication in their nearest local hospitals. This is a milestone in enhancing service delivery to residents,” King’ara said.