Kidney patients in Kirinyaga county have a reason to smile after Governor Anne Waiguru secured additional dialysis machines to boost kidney treatment at Kerugoya County Referral Hospital.
The highly
sophisticated dialysis machines come as a major relief for patients who have
been relying on subsidised dialysis services at the public hospital.
Four of the additional modern dialysis machines installed this week are already in use at the county referral hospital.
The machines have been described as a game-changer in various
treatment modalities, including haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
The upgrade, done under the National Equipment Support Program (NESP), raises the hospital’s operational machines to six.
Two had been
functional before the latest consignment. Another six are expected in the
coming weeks, which will triple the facility’s capacity.
Waiguru has hailed the expansion of dialysis services as a
promise fulfilled and a milestone in her healthcare agenda.
“With this upgrade, more patients will now access reliable
dialysis services right here at home without being referred elsewhere,” Waiguru said.
County Executive Committee Member for Medical Services,
Public Health and Sanitation, George Karoki, said the new machines are fully
digital and come with advanced safety features.
“Once a dialysis session is complete, the machines
automatically alert the medical team, unlike the previous manual systems. We
can now serve more patients because of the increased capacity,” Karoki noted.
Karoki revealed that the renal unit had previously relied on
two machines, serving just 10 patients and carrying out about 20 sessions per
week.
“With the new equipment, the facility can now accommodate
30–40 patients, conduct 60 sessions weekly, and handle close to 300 sessions
every month,” he added.
He further said that the hospital remains the preferred centre for renal care in the region, attracting referrals even from outside Kirinyaga.
The county is also awaiting delivery of an additional six machines for
Kerugoya and at least five for each sub-county hospital to meet rising demand.
“The new dialysis machines are more advanced in terms of technology;
they are able to self-clean, saving on time and efficiency. They also have an
integrated blood pressure machine and blood gas machine, unlike the old ones, and
therefore we are able to monitor the patient's condition as the dialysis services
go on,” he said.
The renal unit also provides nutritional counselling and
meals after every session, apart from educating patients on managing
non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, which are the
leading causes of kidney failure.
Senior renal nurse Racheal Nyaga said staff have already
undergone training on how to use the new machines.
“We are very happy because patients who were previously
referred to other hospitals can now receive care here. At the moment, we have
about 30 patients under dialysis. With full county support, we are able to
follow up on those with lifestyle conditions to prevent further kidney
failure,” she said.
Nyaga advised patients to adopt healthier lifestyles through
exercise, proper hydration and timely medical checkups. For those requiring
transplants, she said that referrals are made to specialised hospitals in
Nairobi.
For patients like Wambua Kioko, 85, who has lived with
kidney complications since 2022, the installation of the additional dialysis
machines is a great relief to patients.
“I have depended on this hospital for my dialysis because
the services here are good and relatively cheap. Dialysis in private hospitals
is very expensive. I had transferred to another hospital before these machines
arrived, but it was costly and very difficult. Now I feel comfortable and well
taken care of here in Kerugoya,” he said.
The upgrade is part of the transition from the Managed
Equipment Service (MES) program, which had served the county for the last decade,
to the new National Equipment Support Program (NESP).
