Medical equipment procured by the national government for Iten county referral hospital and Chebiemit Sub county hospital in Elgeyo Marakwet County are still lying idle due to various challenges.
The County Eedical Engineer, Alex Kipkosgey said at the Iten county referral hospital most of the medical equipment were operational, citing the Renal unit and a set of Theater equipment.
Kipkosgey however said the CT scan had been installed but was yet to be used due to power challenges, saying they had written to the Kenya Power for an upgrade of the transformer at the hospital to supply adequate power to the CT scan.
“KP gave us a quotation of Sh.3.2 million which we are yet to process but we have forwarded the same to the executive,” he said.
Addressing the County Development Implementation Committee chaired by the County Commissioner (CC), Dr. Ahmed Omar, Kipkosgey added that while the hospital received three sets of theater equipment, only one set is fully functional as the county is yet to construct another Theater.
However things are different at the Chebiemit Sub county hospital where only the mobile X-ray unit and the sterilization equipment are being used.
He said the theater was also not being used due to lack of qualified personnel, saying there were only four trained nurses.
“The training of staff was still a challenge because the nurses have to fund for their training which takes 18 months,” Kipkosgey said.
The medical engineer said they had applied for an upgrade of the transformer and the isolation of the same, so that it is only used by the hospital so as to supply power to the CT scan machine.
“While KP gave us the transformer we needed they are yet to connect the power to the hospital,” he said.
The meeting expressed concern that KP required the health facilities to procure the transformers yet they will be the major beneficiaries in terms of payment of bills.
The CC said it is sad that the government had provided equipment but they are lying idle due to lack of power.
“We want all the equipment to become operational so that they can offer services to the residents. We don’t want people to be referred to Eldoret for services which are available in the county,” he said.
By Alice Wanjiru
