The Bondo sub county hospital has received donations of maternity equipment worth shs 1.1million from Rotary Club based in the United States of America.
The donation which was delivered to the hospital by Mrs. Angeline Anyango East who is a member of the club, include 14 beds, 14 mattresses, 20 pairs of bed sheets and two incubators.
Speaking at Bondo hospital, Angeline who was accompanied by husband, Bob East said the donations of maternity equipment would not only improve safe delivery at the hospital but also make expectant mother feel comfortable at the facility.
Mrs. East disclosed that she managed to convince her club in the US to donate maternity equipments after learning that the hospital had inadequate maternity equipments putting the lives of expectant mothers at risk.
The Rotarian also said that she saw the need to give back to her community and challenged individuals with resources to support development projects in the regions they come from.
Mrs. East who also presented souvenirs like flag and photo of the members of the rotary club to the medical superintendent said she was ready work with the hospital management to improve services at the facility.
The Bondo Medical Superintendent (MS), Dr. Willis Ochieng who received the donations on behalf of the hospital said the equipment will enable the facility to handle more expectant mothers who had previously been turned away for lack of bed space.
Dr. Ochieng disclosed that although the hospital is equipped to handle about 150 deliveries each month, It has always been forced to deliver more than 250 mothers per month because of free government maternity services.
The MS stated that with the high volume of expectant mothers and limited bed space, some mothers are forced to share beds making them uncomfortable.
He said that the new equipments will be used in the newly constructed maternity wing at the facility to give the public better services.
Dr. Ochieng on the other hand called on the Siaya county government to pay the contractor of the new facility wing so that he can handover the new maternity wing for use by the hospital.
“Today we have received maternity equipment and last week we also received donation of theater equipment from an organisation called Rafiki wa Maendeleo unfortunately we cannot use the equipment until the new maternity wing is opened.
The county government needs to settle the matter with the contractor so that we can start using the facility,” Dr. Ochieng said.
The Siaya County CEC of Health, Dr. Dorothy Owino who graced the occasion said that the county government has been working round the clock to ensure they reach a settlement with the contractor so that he hands over the facility before the end of June.
Dr. Owino revealed that the county government had already paid the contractor shs.15 million and was ready to pay the remaining variation of shs.3million after conducting necessary assessments.
The Bondo sub county hospital Board Chairman, Joseph Kwaka on his part called on local leaders to shun empty criticism and instead support the growth and development of health facilities in the region.
He said that some members of Siaya county Assembly have been quick to criticise the performance of the hospital yet they have never offered any support to such facilities.
By Mary Oswero
