Residents of Molo Sub-county are set to benefit from affordable and high-quality medical care once the County Government completes the construction of the Sh183 million ultra-modern hospital within the next 10 months.
Nakuru County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Health, Dr. Zachary Kariuki Gichuki, said the facility was part of Governor Lee Kinyanjui Administration’s Sh1 billion upgrade program of health care facilities across the 11 Sub-counties expected to be completed by March next year.
Speaking when the site was handed over to a contractor, Dr. Gichuki noted the stand-alone complex will be equipped with a modern maternity and neo-natal wing, a pharmacy, x-ray machines and modern laboratories.
The facility will house an outpatient complex, accident and emergency unit, an imaging center and theatres among other essential services.
At Sh6 billion, the Health Department in Nakuru got the lion’s share of the Sh15 billion 2020/2021 budget.
This translates to nearly 36 per cent of the budget. A chunk of the funds has been allocated to construction of new health infrastructures and procurement of modern medical equipment.
The outpatient wing at the facility, added the CEC, had been designed to offer the highest standard of medical training and top quality of specialized healthcare services.
“Construction of seven new Sub-county hospitals is nearing completion. We have proposed to equip every Sub-county with modern inpatient and outpatient facilities. The upgrade also incorporates in setting up of trauma centers at the Nakuru Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital, at Naivasha and Salgaa to cater for accident victims,” said Dr.Gichuki
He noted once complete the Hospital will cater for 400,000 residents seeking health care services from the Sub-county and its adjoining Counties of Baringo and Kericho.
The Hospital will also cater for injured patients received from the notorious black spots along the Nairobi-Kisumu Highway.
“The facility will have the trauma/accident and emergency, obstetrics, gynecology, ophthalmology, pharmacy, radiology and radiotherapy and minor surgery theatres among other health departments,” observed the CEC
Other facilities nearing completion include the Sh159 million Njoro Sub-county Hospital, the Sh157million Molo Sub-county Hospital and the Sh60 million outpatient complex at Olenguruone Health Center.
The modern Sh330 million outpatient complex at the Naivasha Sub-county Referral Hospital is expected to be operational within the next three months.
The project is a joint-partnership of the County and National Governments and Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen).
He indicated that investment in modern outpatient units across the devolved unit was part of the county’s efforts to revamp the health sector and improve efficiency in emergency response.
The County, he said, was keen on decongesting the Nakuru Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital by modernizing all Sub-county hospitals.
The Level 5 hospital serves more than eight counties in the South Rift region, including Bomet, Kericho, Samburu, Baringo, Nyandarua and Laikipia where 2,000 patients are treated daily, 750 of them being inpatients.
The County runs 184 health facilities, including dispensaries, health centers, level four hospitals and the Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
By Emily Kadzo
