Over 260 healthcare technologists who include radiographers, radiologists and biomedical engineers drawn from Kenya’s 47 counties were recently trained as part of refresher courses for the Managed Equipment Services (MES) project launched in 2015.
The GE Healthcare and the Ministry of Health drew the healthcare technologists from all Level 4, 5 and 6 hospitals from across the country’s 47 counties.
The 12 weeks training is part of the MES training curriculum based on 800+ weeks of education program shared between onsite training sessions and classroom training sessions at the GE Healthcare Skills and Training Institute (HSTI) in Nairobi.
The medical technologists were trained on among others areas, clinical applications, X-ray, mammography, dental X-ray, ultrasound, C-Arm and environmental, health and safety training.
“Continuous training and skills development are essential ingredients in ensuring the efficiency of healthcare staff, considering the rapidly developing technologies and constant updates in procedures.” said Andrew Waititu, Managing Director of GE Healthcare East Africa.
Waititu in a press release noted that the refresher trainings are helping to sustain the quality of healthcare services in the public hospitals across the country and ensuring the healthcare professionals’ skills remain up to date as they support the country’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda.
Morang’a Morekwa, Chairman, Managed Equipment Services Implementation Committee (MESIC) said, “The purpose of the MES project is to fast track the government’s objective of attaining equitable, affordable and quality healthcare services of the highest standards for the Kenyan citizens in public hospitals across the country, to ensure that all citizens regardless of location have access to uninterrupted, quality, specialized healthcare services.”
Morekwa further noted that the training facilitated in collaboration with GE Healthcare will ensure this mandate is attained through proper running and maintenance of the specialized, modern, state-of-the-art medical equipment installed at the county and sub-county health facilities as part of the MES project.
He lauded the initiative which he said is driving capacity and capability building as a priority for sustainable development of the healthcare sector in Kenya and its Big4 agenda on UHC.
To date, over 1600 professionals from across the country have been trained.
The GE HSTI is a US $13million (Sh.1.3 billion) investment launched in 2016 in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Health to promote training of Healthcare technologists and other healthcare workers as part of the MES project.
Based at the Watermark Business Park in Karen, GE HSTI provides a forum for information and discussion on developments and changes in the radiology and radiographic profession globally.
The HSTI was established to address factors such as skill shortages, cost containment, need for quality improvement, technological innovation, new medical interventions, new health sector programmes and health sector reform.
By Alice Gworo
