A tethered goat grazing freely in an unkempt compound that comprises bushes and long grass and vandalised concrete walls welcomes you to the proposed multi-million Thogoto Level Four Hospital in Kikuyu, Kiambu county.
Launched over seven years ago by the county government, the facility was set to be a state-of-the-art hospital with a 150 beds capacity.
It was meant to serve the densely populated Kikuyu subcounty and parts of the neighbouring Ndeiya in Limuru constituency who for years, have been forced to travel kilometres away to Kiambu, Tigoni and Wangige hospitals.
The facility can easily be described as a white elephant after its construction, which was to take just one year, stalled.
“It’s even a security hazard. Criminals use it as a hideout as they waylay their victims. We had initially thought that the project would be completed to serve the community around here,” Joseph Kimani, a resident of the Thogoto area, said.
“It has become a shame because it has only been attracting criminals. People also come to graze their livestock in the compound because no one takes care of it. Crooks also steal building stones for sale,” Kimani added.
This is the status of six Level 4 hospitals whose construction began in 2016 and are yet to be complete.
The stalled projects include, Bibirioni Level 4 hospital whose foundation stone was laid by former First Lady Margret Kenyatta in Limuru.
Others are Lari Level 4 hospital, Thogoto in Kikuyu, Githunguri as well as expansion of Tigoni hospital in Limuru and Wangige hospitals which were being constructed at a cost of close to Sh1.7 billion.
However, the county is set to boost its hospital capacity to 3,200 beds before the end of the year.
This is after Governor Kimani Wamatangi revived the six hospital projects and also tendered for elevation of Gachororo hospital and Karuri Level 3 facilities in Juja and Kiambaa respectively to Level 4 by putting up 200-bed wings in each of them.
“Construction has resumed at Bibirioni Hospital in Limuru after we cleared pending bills that had stalled the projects, and developed a framework that will see the facility completed and operationalised,” he said in his office Thursday.
“Works are also resuming at Lari, Wangige and Thogoto hospital projects which had also stalled after contractors abandoned sites over nonpayment,” he said.
The governor also added that, “We are also building 13 new dispensaries in different wards that will have a 16-bed maternity ward, a mini laboratory and theatre and renovating the existing ones, because we want to ensure residents of all our 60 wards access quality healthcare in the nearest distance possible," Wamatangi said.
For instance, the 150-bed Bibirioni Hospital was launched in 2018 at a cost of Sh300 million to expand its current capacity of 80 beds.
Residents of Bibirioni said their ward is one of those that did not have a dispensary and they only rely on private clinics.
“We do not have a dispensary like others wards that neighbour us. We seeks services from private clinics or travel long distances to public facilities in Tigoni hospital or Lari Level 4 hospital” said Nancy Wachuka, a resident.
Wachuka said if the project is complete, delivery of babies and other emergency cases will be eased and affordable.
However, the Bibirioni project, which is a multi-storey facility and sits on a five-acre land, is a pale shade of its idealised vision, which was earmarked to serve over 100,000 people after the contractor, abandoned the site over non-payment of pending bills but works resumed last week.
At Thogoto, the county has already tendered for completion of the project, with Wamatangi saying it will begin before June 30, after the county assembly okayed his supplementary budget that allowed him to spend Sh1.2 billion more on development.
At Tigoni Hospital which has been grappling with congestion and poor services, Sh160 million-project for the construction of a new wing to increase the bed capacity in the facility by 150 beds was launched in 2015 but the contractor had been having a strained relationship with the county government over non-payment, leading to its stalling.
The Lari Level 4 construction project which is located at Rukuma along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, comprises construction of a 200-bed capacity wing at a cost of Sh192 million whose implementation has stalled for years over pending bills.
Another mega health project which the governor has embarked on for its completion is Githunguri Level 4 Hospital, a Sh800 million project that was commissioned by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta 2018.
The infrastructure of the 280-bed facility is almost complete, and according to designs, it will have a multi-storey modern facility with modern casualty and emergency unit, modern outpatient, maternity, an orthopedic ward, mental health unit, cancer unit, and intensive care unit among other services.
Sources say the county government is set to finalise the infrastructure and also equip it, revealing that it has reached out to the Ministry of Health which has agreed to supplement its efforts of procuring state of the art equipment for the facility.
"The contractor is already back on the site after the governor paid his dues and we are looking forward to having the facility up and running in a few months," County Health Services executive Dr Elias Maina said.
In Ruiru also lies an unfinished building which is supposed to be the Central medical store.
The governor has also renegotiated with the contractor to get back on site and see its completion.
The store once complete, will house the Health Technologies and product unit where all non-pharmaceuticals and also pharmaceuticals will be stored and monitored through a system. This will make sure that every facility is adequately supplied and incase of the stocks dwindling, the system will be able to notify in order for replenishing.
