Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital on Wednesday attained its full Level 5 status.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Wednesday launched the first-ever ICU unit across all the level five facilities.
Shockingly, Mutuini, Pumwani and Mbagathi which are the other level-five hospitals do not have ICU units.
"There is no ICU bed in all of the Nairobi County health facilities. Today, I am proud to open the special clinics unit, which has a state-of-the-art 4-Bed ICU. This ICU is the first of 4 that we envision opening across the County, in the other level five hospitals," Sakaja said.
A Level 5 hospital is a county referral hospital with more than 100-bed capacities and is run by a chief executive officer who must be a doctor by profession.
At the same time, Mama Lucy also launched a 3-bed renal unit at the hospital.
This will be the second one in Nairobi, with the first renal unit in a county-owned facility launched in 2019 at the Mbagathi Hospital.
The renal unit provides hemodialysis for both in and outpatients with chronic or acute kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy.
Explaining the achievement, Sakaja acknowledged that these services will not only significantly reduce the numerous referrals to other facilities and challenges encountered in the process but also cater for patients referred from surrounding lower-level facilities.
He also pledged that his administration will ensure that these units are well staffed with highly trained and skilled medical professionals with different specialities to ensure the County is providing the highest quality care to our patients.
"Just two weeks ago the first-ever laparoscopy, minimal invasive surgery, was done in this hospital. 15 were attended to and this is a testament that we have the skill set and can provide very specialized treatments for our people," Sakaja added.
Mama Lucy facility is estimated to attend to 27,000 patients monthly; 25,000 in outpatient and 2,000 patients.
The facility handles 1,200 deliveries monthly, 300 of which are caesarian sections.
It also has an oxygen production capacity of 80 to 100 cylinders per day. (one cylinder capacity is 8.5 cubic meters).
At the same time, Governor Sakaja announced the creation of a children's playground at the hospital.
The Pediatric ward in Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital has a bed capacity of 45 but on average houses close to 100 patients.
The average bed occupancy ranges from 150 percent to 200 percent.
Until today, we, unfortunately, had no play area for the children, neither for the inpatient nor for the outpatient population.
"A playground within the facility will ensure a type of connection with the familiar, friendly environment of the home. It will also provide a way out of all negative feelings and disappointment that may possibly accompany a child upon hospital admission and hospitalization," Sakaja added.
In addition to that, City hall also opened its first fully equipped blood bank centre.
Initially, the then Nairobi Metropolitan Service had in2021 opened a smart blood bank but it was to collect blood on behalf of Kenyatta National Hospital.
"It is expected that demand for blood will continue to increase annually. Therefore, to meet the increased demand, we believe the opening of this satellite centre is the beginning of the journey of transformation," Sakaja stated.
The establishment is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, through the Kenya Tissue and Transplant Authority (KTTA), Nairobi City County Government, and Lifebank who were involved in setting up the initial blood collection Centre in 2021.
Kenya is the third county after Nigeria and Ethiopia where LifeBank has invested in blood engagement.
The blood bank centre is the first of many that will be opened across the county.
This will aid to meet the monthly demands at the Mama Lucy facility which is between 400-500 units of blood.
The county announced that at least three others will be opened in strategically located facilities in the County, including Mbagathi.
In addition, Governor Sakaja appealed to residents to heed the call, donate blood and be the reason for a smile on someone’s face
"Through your efforts, I am confident that this centre will continue providing the best care to our patients and I am proud to be a part of this momentous occasion," he added.
