Residents of Kirinyaga County who have for a long time suffered the agony of making frequent and inconvenient trips to Nairobi for scanning services will henceforth benefit from the same services at the Kerugoya County Hospital.
The County government in collaboration with the National government has installed an ultra-modern machine which is expected to adequately serve Kirinyaga residents.
Commissioning the scanner at the hospital’s diagnostic Centre on Wednesday, the Kirinyaga Governor, Anne Mumbi said the facility will be a big relief to many families who previously had to struggle to travel with their sick kin to Nairobi.
Governor Mumbi said many patients had either died while enroute to Nairobi or had their conditions worsen due to the hassle of travelling the long distance for scanning facilities.
She said the government found it necessary to have the machines located in Kerugoya which is a central place to most residents of Mt. Kenya region.
The facility she said, will not only benefit the residents of Kirinyaga County but even those from neighboring areas like Embu, Murang’a, Kitui (Mwingi) and Tharaka Nithi.
Mumbi said the government has also equipped the hospital with cancer management facilities which have also been of great assistance to the residents.
The governor said it will now be taking doctors lesser time to diagnose various ailments without any guess work since the machine will be able to detect the specific body part which has a problem.
Governor Mumbi was speaking during a State of the County address she gave at the Kerugoya Hospital.
She said the scanner will among other benefits reduce the time lag the surgeons previously took to operate on patients.
“The scan has the ability to identify specific areas for diagnosis thus enhancing the health management of the patients,” Mumbi said.
She added that the equipment is among the most modern within the various medical facilities across the country.
“Those who say the government is not working should come to Kerugoya hospital and witness what is happening within the two years we have been in office,” Governor Mumbi said.
“Already we are putting up a five storey building which is going to expand the hospital bed capacity from the current 250 to 500 beds,” Mumbi told the gathering.
She said the county is in the process of launching a health care programme for Kirinyaga people to be known as Kiri-care where every household will be required to pay Sh.1700 annual levy for the contributory scheme.
“The health care programme after the establishment will offer free health services to the residents,” she said.
The governor said the hospital which has in the recent past attracted negative publicity has picked up and was serving the residents normally as expected.
By Irungu Mwangi
