Leaders from Garissa have appealed to the National government to take over two county medical facilities to boost services.
These are the Garissa County Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Cancer Centre.
Speaking
in Garissa on Saturday during the launch of SHA member registration,
they said the county is overwhelmed in terms of resource allocation.
“With upgrading
and takeover by the national government, the county will be able to
pool resources towards the health facilities at the subcounty levels,
hence providing a quality healthcare services,” Fafi MP Salah Yakub
said.
In attendance were Health CS Aden Duale and Garissa Governor Nathif Jama.
Also
present were Garissa Senator Abdul Haji and MPs Dekow Mohamed (Garissa
Township), Abdi Ali (Ijara) and ODM nominated MP Umulkheir Harun.
Yakub said unlike
the county, the national government typically enforces stricter
standards for medical infrastructure, staffing and service delivery.
He cited the elevation of Kisumu’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital to a level 6 facility.
“National budget allocations tend to be larger and more stable than county-level budgets,” Yakub said.
“Having
these facilities managed by the national government will reduce
dependency on inconsistent or politically influenced county budgetary
allocations.”
Mohamed
said that with oversight by the national government and enough
resources, the two health facilities will provide quality healthcare
services.
He
urged Duale and Jama to consider supporting their plea to upgrade the
referral hospital to level 6 under the management of the national Health
ministry.
Harun
said management by the national government will allow for
better funding and resource allocation, as well as higher standards of
care.
“I support the proposal so the county can free up funds to support subcounty hospitals,” she said.
However, Duale and Jama did not respond to the issue when they got a chance to address the gathering.
