Uhuru commissions two Level Three hospitals in Kibera

At least 490, 000 Kibera residents will now have better access to health care after the commissioning of two Level Three Hospitals in Kibera.

A level 3 facility is a health centre and is run by at least one doctor, clinical officers and nurses.

The Kibera Level 3 Hospital will serve a catchment population of 430,000 people while Undugu High rise Hospital will serve 60,000 people.

With a 16-25 bed capacity, the two hospitals will offer both outpatient and inpatient services.

Other services include maternity theatre, Digital X Ray Unit with a capacity to conduct a 100 sessions a day.

They also focus on primary health care, community health services and chronic diseases.

President Uhuru Kenyatta who commissioned the two health facilities noted that they will help decongest Mbagathi Hospital.

These are among the 24 hospitals he directed the Nairobi Metropolitan Service to construct across the informal settlements to make healthcare accessible.

“We have commissioned 14 hospitals so far and this has seen the programme expanded to see the construction of 28 new hospitals and expansion or rehabilitation of four more hospitals,” Uhuru added.

NMS Director General Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi last month  revealed that through savings, they have built four  extra hospitals in addition to the 24, which include the Green park dispensary

The 14 hospitals include Gichagi in Kangemi, Mukuru Kwa Rueben, Tassia Kwa Ndege and Our Lady of Nazareth in Mukuru Kwa Njenga were opened in July.

The Uthiru, Kiamaiko, Soweto-Kayole, Ushirika and Green Park hospitals were opened in February.

They have so far attended to over 95,000 patients .

President Uhuru Kenyatta emphasized that the NMS built facilities have assisted in decongesting Kenyatta National Hospital which is the country’s biggest referral facility.

“Nairobi with a population of close to 5 million has seen at least 40 percent  of its population rely on Kenyatta National Hospital as their first point of access for health services. This has resulted to Nairobi recording the worst health outcome disease burden nationally, “he explained.

Uhuru was accompanied by Badi  and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.