• Out of the 256 medics, 146 of them will be nurses. Others will be medical doctors and specialists.
• Maina said all health facilities across the county are being stocked with sufficient medical supplies.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
The Kiambu government will hire 256 medics to address understaffing in hospitals across the county.
Health executive Mbuthia Maina said most of the facilities are grappling with a staff shortage, dealing a huge blow to service delivery.
Maina, who spoke at Thika Level 5 Hospital during Nurses Day celebrations, said the county is set to advertise the positions. He said out of the 256 medics, 146 will be nurses. Others will be medical doctors and specialists.
“There’s a shortage of medics, especially nurses in our hospitals, and this has been a major concern for us. However our Governor [Kimani Wamatangi] has given a nod to the hiring of more medical staff as we seek to improve healthcare and service delivery to our people,” Maina said.
He said the hiring of the medics would fill the gaps that were left void by medics who either retired, resigned, went abroad for greener pastures or died.
“This is just a short-term measure to ensure we have enough personnel in our hospitals as we embark on a long-term plan to ensure that all our facilities are adequately staffed and stocked with medical and non-pharmaceutical supplies,” the executive said.
Maina said all health facilities across the county are being stocked with sufficient medical supplies.
He said Thika Level 5 Hospital has received drugs worth Sh10 million, but efforts are being made to ensure residents get essential health services efficiently and effectively.
“We are currently distributing drugs worth Sh45 million to all our Level 3 and Level 4 health facilities. We will later distribute non-pharmaceuticals worth Sh10 million to our facilities,” Maina said.
“Patients will no longer be turned away from this hospital to go and seek services from private facilities or buy drugs from chemists outside. We have ensured that we have enough medical stocks.”
Maina said all dues owed to suppliers, especially those who supply non-pharmaceuticals to Kiambu hospitals, have been cleared. The CEC said the county administration has laid down an elaborate plan to avert standoffs with suppliers.
“Suppliers are being paid two weeks after they do their deliveries. In order to end the crisis between the county government and the suppliers, the governor directed that all dues owed to the suppliers be cleared in 14 days. We now don’t expect to have a shortage of non-pharmaceutical supplies,” he said.
Thika Level 5 Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Waturi Kivuti said service delivery at the hospital had resumed to normalcy after interventions by the county government.
The hospital has been in the limelight in the last two months over the deterioration of services.
The referral facility had been grappling with a myriad of challenges including understaffing, lack of proper equipment and lack of medical and non-pharmaceutical supplies, among others.
“There has been a lot of changes, especially in terms of supplies. We have managed to streamline our procurement process and we are receiving medical and non-pharmaceutical supplies on time. Services are currently top notch and we hope to even get better in the future,” she said.
Dr Kivuti said there were plans to set up a trauma centre at the facility to improve emergency care.
“The hospital is in a transit town and receives many cases of emergency and this is the reason we are embarking on putting up a trauma centre so that we can always be ready for trauma care,” she said.