Nyeri Referral Hospital gets a facelift

Patients seeking services at the Nyeri Referral Hospital will soon enjoy a more hospitable environment once a renovation exercise which will cost the county government Sh. 30 million is completed.
According to Governor Mutahi Kahiga, the facelift project will focus on key outpatient departments and go a long way in providing a more patient- friendly environment in the spirit of blending hospitality with wellness.
The facility with a bed capacity of 270 and daily outpatient attendance of 582 and inpatient admission of 116 is one of the major hospitals in the country which was constructed in early 1930s as a military hospital.
Some of the works to be undertaken according to the Governor entails general repairs, tiling, replacement of asbestos roofing, plumbing and electrical works, and extension of customer care station as well as the installation of comfortable and modern seats in the waiting bay.
Speaking Wednesday while launching the project set to take 21 days, Kahiga said the project also marks the beginning of other similar initiatives in all health facilities in the county, all aimed at improving service delivery.
“Health is a right enshrined in the constitution and as a responsive government, we are tasked with providing quality health services to all our residents,” said the Governor.
He said in his 5-year Integrated Development Plan, his government shall work to strengthen, equip, expand and modernize all health facilities in the county to assure residents of quality services.
Kahiga outlined that plans were on course to renovate and expand the mortuary section in the facility that currently accommodates 15 bodies.
Other works he said in the pipeline include constructing an incinerator to help manage medical waste in the county and construction of an outpatient department at Mt. Kenya Hospital to help decongest the facility.
He said a supplies store and newborn unit at Karatina Hospital and completion and operationalization of rural health facilities across the sub-counties will be effected as part of improving access to health services.
He said these investments were a key step towards achieving the national government’s Universal Health Care agenda, noting that Nyeri was one of the four pilot counties.
By Samuel Waititu