The state is considering making the Mwai Kibaki Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nyeri purely a referral facility.
This means the hospital will only attend to referrals or emergency cases only in an effort to decongest the facility.
Patients will be required to first seek medical care at the dispensaries and Level 3 and 4 hospitals available before visiting Level 6.
“I want to urge residents of Nyeri county to first seek treatment at the dispensaries and Level 3 and 4 hospitals available and it is only then that one can be referred to this facility,” Health CS Susan Wafula said.
Wafula on Monday called on the hospital management to fast-track the digitisation and automation of services offered for easier access.
“There is need to have dialysis, MRI and CT scan services as well as improve the health workforce for it to reach the standard of a Level six hospital,” she said.
The CS announced plans to transform the hospital into a fully-fledged Level 6 facility adding that she will set up a multi-agency team to help in the transitioning of the hospital.
The hospital is mandated to receive patients on referral for specialised healthcare, facilitate training for health and allied professions and conduct research to inform planning, innovation and policy.
The facility is projected to become a centre of excellence in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) management, especially in diabetes, cancer, renal and cardiovascular diseases, which bear the greatest disease burden in the region.
It serves residents of the larger Mt Kenya region which include Nyeri and the surrounding counties of Embu, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Isiolo, Samburu, Kirinyaga, Murang'a and Marsabit.
The 350-bed facility was initially launched in 2019 as Othaya Level VI hospital before the name was changed to KNH Othaya Annex but was renamed to Mwai Kibaki Teaching and Referral Hospital in April last year in honour of the former President.
