The Kenyatta National Hospital is the biggest winner in the 2023-2024 budget released by the National Treasury on Thursday.
In the budget statement, the Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u has proposed Sh1.1 billion for the renovation of the hospital.
This comes as a relief to both the hospital management and the patients at the largest referral hospital in the region that has for years endured offering services despite being in a sorry state.
The hospital has also received the largest allocation among referral hospitals after being allocated Sh21.6 billion under the budget.
“Further to improve the health service delivery, I propose Sh21.6 billion for KNH, Sh12.8 billion for Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Sh8.8 billion for Kenya Medical Training Colleges,” the CS said.
The Treasury has further allocated Sh3.3 billion for the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Sh2.4 billion for the construction of the Kenya national burns and pediatric centres.
KNH is currently running an adopt-a-bed initiative which started towards the end of 2021 and targets to raise 2,000 beds.
The idea is to replace the old beds the hospitals have had for decades.
A significant number of beds are obsolete and those in usable condition have limited functionalities required for the provision of specialised treatment offered in the hospital.
The hospital management said most beds at the facility were procured when the hospital was established in 1901, hence do not offer the comfort a patient requires for ease of recovery.
