Services at Kenneth Matiba Eye and Dental hospital at Kenol town, Murang’a county, will be halted for a period of two weeks, even as the local county government relocates the facility to newly constructed premises.
In a public notice issued by the county administration, patients have been advised to seek medical services from Maragua Level 4 and Murang’a Level 5 hospitals for the period between June 24 and July 7.
The hospital, currently hosted in a rented premise, will in the next two weeks be relocated to a new building at Makenji area along Kenol – Thika road, a few kilometres from the current location.
The new health facility was constructed on a part of land the county government got from a fruit growing and processing Delmonte company.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata administration took initiative to construct the new hospital building so as to save the county funds it used to cater for rent.
Kang’ata in a past occasion revealed that the county administration was paying a rent amounting to Sh. 1 million for the hospital currently hosted in a 4-storey building.
He said priority was given to construct a new building at Makenji area of Kandara sub county to host the health facility, which deals with eye and dental issues.
The Kenneth Matiba hospital was established by former Governor Mwangi wa Iria back in 2016 and has been operating in a rental building.
The hospital located along Thika -Nyeri has been of great help to patients seeking specialized treatment on eye and dental complications.
After Delmonte Company gave out more than 140 acres of land to the county administration a year ago, Kang’ata said part of the land will be used for construction of a level 5 hospital, which will serve people from counties within the southern part of the county.
The newly constructed building, he said will first be used to host the eye and dental hospital as the county government embarks on expanding the facility to a level 5 hospital.
Sub counties that lie at the southern part of Murang’a include Maragua, Kandara, Gatanga, Kigumo and Ithanga.
Currently, patients from the area rely on Maragua level 4 hospital and health facilities in the neighbouring Kiambu county, with Kang’ata administration now focusing on having a Level 5 five to serve the local residents.
By Bernard Munyao
