Kakamega hospital to boost UHC, medical tourism

Construction of the Sh6.2 billion, 750-bed Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital has been greeted by excitement but also doubts and questions.

It's a step not only toward universal healthcare but also medical tourism, in which Kenya is lacking; it loses patients to India and other counties where treatment is cheaper and almost always better. 

Phase I opens is expected to open next March. Hopefully, patens won't have to share beds anymore.

Over two million residents hope their long journeys to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital or Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Memorial hospital in Eldoret and Kisumu will end soon.

Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said the hospital will employ 5,000 staff once complete and will go a long way to upgrade  Kakamega town to city status by the end of next year.

He was accompanied on a tour in November by Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Russian Ambassador Dmitry Meksimychev and United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya Sid Chatterjee.

The hospital is one of Oparanya’s flagship projects. Others are the construction of a milk processing plant in Malava, upgrading of the Bukhungu Stadium to international standards and construction of a tea factory in Shinyalu.

The first phase of the medical facility has cost taxpayers Sh2.1 billion but it is yet to be opened due to lack of medical equipment and staff.

The hospital requires Sh2 million for purchase of equipment and Sh1.5 billion more for capacity building and operations.

“The government is procuring equipment for the first phase of the hospital set to be opened in March next year,” a senior health official told the Star in an interview.

The county government last week advertised for positions to expand its workforce ahead of the opening of the first phase.

The county wants to hire eight registered clinical officers, 15 senior registered nurses, 30 nursing officers, 28 medical laboratory technologists, 27 registered clinical officers and 24 assistant health records information management officers.

The hospital will also boost medical tourism to the county.

The Masinde Muliro University School of Medicine that is to use the facility for teaching was inaugurated on December 6.

Notable changes in the former Kakamega County General Hospital, being transformed into a referral hospital, including the establishment of a renal and cancer units, installation of a CT Scan, MRI unit, X-Ray machines and hiring new staff.

The number of health staff has risen from 1, 535 in 2013 to 2, 250 in 2017. The county requires 5, 795.

In conjunction with the National government under the Managed Equipment Service (MES), the county has procured a 16 slice CT –SCANNER and in brought in six digital medical imaging machines for the referral hospital and Malava sub-county hospital

They include CR (computer radiography), film processing accessories, mammography, orthopantography (OPG), C-ARM, an ultrasound unit and a mobile X-ray unit.

However, some residents apprehensive the facility could be a curse rather than a blessing.

There are growing complaints that despite the facility recently lowering its charges, services remain poor.

“The hospital is simply brick and mortar with no services at all. We are now forced to take our patients to private hospitals where despite being charged higher fees, we get services. That's better than taking them to the referral hospital where they will die in our arms,” James Njuguna said.

He said he took his wife to the hospital a week ago and she was never attended to from 1am to 5 am, instead of being referred to a physician by a nurse at the hospital.

“We were excited that finally we will not have to spend to travel to either Kisumu or Eldoret but it appears nothing is going to change soon,” he said.

Evelyn Waka says she now prefers private hospitals because of the attitude by the staff at the public facility. “You go there and it’s like you’re bothering them. If you have a patient in critical condition, they will just die in your hands. Despite the high charges, patients must share beds,” she said.

Kenya National Union for Nurses (KNUN), Kakamega branch secretary Renson Bulunya says the current charges at the hospital are beyond the reach of average people.

“The county has turned the general hospital into a parastatal making it expensive because it will now charge patients as private hospitals do. Where will we poor people go?" he asked.

“My work is to defend the nurses and ensure they are paid well and their rights protected. The elected leaders should engage the county to ensure better services to the people,’ he said.

But other residents are optimistic services will improve with time. "We have had problems travelling all the way to Eldoret or Kisumu but we shall be able to access these services closer to us here. The issues of cost are relative because even in MTHR we pay high charges," Joshua Wesa said.

The poor services at the facility have been blamed on deep-seated infighting between top officials of the county health services.

A report by the Kakamega county assembly health services committee recommended Health services CEC Rachael Okumu and chief officers Brendah Makokha and Evelyn Mulunji work together.

But hospital superintended Dr Victor Zimbulu said quality healthcare is very costly and residents must brace themselves for that.

He said that though Level 5 hospitals are mandated to offer specialised care on referral at low cost, quality care at this level remains a challenge to the poor.

“We encourage all Kenyans, especially residents of Kakamega county to take up NHIF to avert catastrophic health expenditure,” he said.

Oparanya advisers Musa Chibole said the county government intends to build sub-county hospitals in the 12 sub-counties to ease congestion at the referral hospital.

Subcounty hospitals are coming up at Shamakhubu in Shinyalu constituency, Shibwe in Ikolomani and Mumias town in Mumias East subcounty.

The county has heavily invested in the health sector, pumping 30 per cent of its annual budget into health since the inception of devolution.

(Edited by V. Graham)