Residents of Gatanga subcounty in Murang’a county have been reprieved after the county government expanded Kirwara subcounty hospital.
The facility now has a new casualty ward, general ward, male and female surgical wards, and a paediatric ward.
The hospital previously only admitted women and children as it did not have a ward for men.
But following the completion of a four-storey building started by the previous regime, the hospital will start admitting men and offering more services.
The hospital’s bed capacity has been increased from 18 to 100 while its maternity ward has 30 beds up from 11.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata who commissioned the new wing of the hospital said the number of nurses and doctors has been increased in order to enhance services.
“The welfare of the medical officers has been addressed through provision of new doctors’ offices, nurse stations and consultation rooms where they can tend to patients,” he said.
The governor said his administration prioritised the completion of the facility to ease access of medical services for locals who were forced to travel to Thika Level 5 Hospital for treatment.
The facility was initially intended to be an orthopaedic facility to cater to the numerous bone diseases including arthritis and back problems that have been afflicting locals.
Kang’ata said the hospital will benefit from a digitisation programme that is being implemented in health facilities countywide.
The digitisation eases the facilities’ operations and helps to track the movement of drugs to ensure their stock is replenished before it’s diminished.
This comes weeks after the government commissioned new general wards at the Maragua and Kandara Level 4 hospitals.
The new wards have 50 beds and will enable the sub county referral hospitals to offer treatment to more patients and ease traffic at the county referral hospital in Murang’a town.
“Patients receiving treatment will have a better environment due to the reduced congestion in the wards,” the governor said.
At Bildad Kagia Hospital in Kandara, the governor commissioned a 20-bed ward that he said will save locals from travelling far to seek treatment.
In Maragua hospital, Kang’ata launched a 30-bed ward that he said will ease congestion that was previously being experienced in the busy facility.
