This arrangement ensures public hospitals access modern health infrastructure, equipment or services over an agreed period, with the government making regular, pre-arranged payments based on agreed performance parameters.
Instead of huge capital outlays that would be required for building or equipping hospitals, MES arrangements offer public entities an opportunity to spread costs over the contract period, thereby allowing for long-term, sustainable budgeting.
Ooko said decommissioning the equipment or transferring them to respective hospitals could prove counterproductive.
“These options may lead to rampant equipment breakdown and prolonged downtime negating gains already made,” Ooko said.
“The extension is limited to three years and is mainly for maintenance and servicing of MES equipment as defined in the service requirements and equipment schedules in the contract.”
The project faced some challenges in its implementation some of which included infrastructural such as three-phase power, staff availability, training and physical structures.
In its report, the task force said the project had enabled many Kenyans to access health services from MES supported hospitals during the last six years from the inauguration.
Through the programme, more than 3.8 million patients have benefited from X-ray exposures, 1.7 million from ultrasound scans and 628,821 patients from theatre operations.
“The government remains committed to transformative devolved healthcare for every Kenyan to access the highest standard of quality healthcare attainable,” Kagwe said.
The programme entails leasing assorted medical gadgets to select national and county government hospitals for seven years ending this year.
The renal, laboratory, ICU radiology and theatre equipment were leased to at least two level 4 hospitals in each of the 47 counties.
In the deal signed at State House in 2015, a fixed sum of Sh95.7 million was supposed to be deducted annually for seven years from each county to pay for the equipment but the amount increased to Sh200 million per county.
However, medical experts and county governments have said the cost was ballooned and the taxpayer got a raw deal.
They said it was easier and cheaper to directly buy the gadgets instead of leasing them.
In May last year, the ministry was at pains to explain whether the public got value for money from the controversial lease.
The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sought to know why the equipment in Kakamega, Elgeyo Marakwet, Murang'a, Samburu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Lamu and Machakos counties had not been used yet they continued to incur costs.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
