The Mpesa Foundation has unveiled a new Mother and Child Hospital (MCH) in Kisumu County to boost the provision of healthcare outcomes.
The facility domiciled at Ratta Hospital in Seme-Sub County is equipped with a nurse station, a waiting bay with a children’s play area, two consultants’ rooms, a child welfare clinic (CWC) room, a pharmacy with a store, a family planning room, an antenatal clinic (ANC) room, and washrooms, among others.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ndegwa, who handed over the facility to the county government, said the newly constructed unit is expected to increase bed capacity and daily deliveries in the area.
The maternal unit, he said will also provide a variety of critical services such as outpatient care, maternity care, comprehensive clinic care, immunizations for children, and laboratory services where over 10,000 people will be impacted.
“At Safaricom, our purpose is transforming lives, and through these interventions, we are taking healthcare closer to the people. Going forward, the M-PESA Foundation will continue partnering with the counties to enhance service delivery, with a keen focus on maternal and child health,” he said.
Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o lauded the partnership, saying it will go a long way in boosting health outcomes for the area.
“This project is a dream come true to the people of Seme and Kisumu County as a whole. It is a model we are keen on extending to other parts of the County,” he said.
The county government, he said, has invested an additional Sh. 6 million to renovate the Old Ratta Hospital.
This mother-and-child unit, he added, will offer exclusive services to mothers and their babies, helping to mitigate against the high infant mortality rate in the area.
The facility, he added, will offer services beyond Seme Sub-County, adding that the county government plans to set up similar wellness centres across the eight Sub-Counties.
Nyong’o said his government would continue to invest heavily in the health sector to ensure the wellbeing of all area residents.
Among the key interventions in the health sector, he said, was the operation of some 280 functional Community Health Units, which have been linked to 151 Public Health Facilities and five faith-based health facilities across the County.
This, he said, represents 94.5% coverage, with an average of 307,185 households in the County served by 2,998 Community Community Health Workers.
The number of visits made by CHWs to family households in the area, he disclosed, increased from 187,977 in 2022 to 206,420 in 2023.
“In the last one year, our community health workers received further training on community case management of malaria, nurturing care, family planning, HPV, and cervical cancer screening,” he said.
As a result, he said most of the CHWs were now able to diagnose and treat malaria cases in the community, screen for children’s health and growth, among other things.
By Chris Mahandara
