Governor Jama pledges to support medics to serve residents well

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama has promised to support health workers urging them to serve residents well.

Jama said with a dedicated workforce, services will improve.

Before the August elections, hospitals in the county had been facing an acute shortage of medical supplies, a lack of ambulances and a demoralised staff, due to unpaid salaries for three months.

The county referral hospital was the most affected due to the high number of patients.

However, Jama said he was happy with the progress.

“We are on the right track towards getting this hospital to what it was before. We have managed to curb the chronic shortage of drugs and essential non-pharma items,” he said yesterday.

The governor spoke when he donated assorted food items to the hospital as part of efforts to revive services.

He was accompanied by deputy speaker and Iftin MCA Mustaf Abdirashid, county referral hospital acting CEO Dr Hawa Bakari and acting Health chief officer Mohamed Salat.

The governor lauded the hospital management for collecting Sh3 million in revenue,  compared to the Sh300,000 it collected in August.

The donation will sustain the hospital for the next month.

He said the county will in the next two months renovate the dilapidated hospital's kitchen to the required standards and ensure there is enough food for patients.

MCA Abdirashid said the county assembly will work closely with the executive to make sure there is service delivery.

Abdirashid appealed to the medical practitioners at the facility and across the county to dedicate their time to serving residents saying their salaries come from taxpayers.

“It is immoral and unethical for people who are earning a salary from the county coughers to dedicate most of their time working in their private facilities and leave patients who can't afford to go to the private facilities to suffer. It is not right to commercialise your professional,” he said.

A senior official at the hospital who spoke to the Star on anonymity said services had improved at the facility.

“We have all the essential drugs both pharmaceutical and non-pharmacitical. The situation was very different a month ago where we were struggling to get the basics,” the official said.

“We thank the new administration which seems determined to change things for the better.”

Edited by Kiilu Damaris