President William Ruto has said the Social Health Authority (SHA) is committed to ensuring equitable and affordable access to medical care.
The President noted that supplemented by the efforts of the Community Health Promoters (CHP), the new care will drive the country towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Head of State asked Kenyans to ignore the naysayers and register in large numbers with SHA and benefit from this transformative healthcare scheme.
He was speaking when he laid the foundation stone for the X-Ray Block and officially opened the Theatre Block at the Mkogani Sub-County Hospital, Kwale County.
He noted the facility’s upgrade from Level III to Level IV will significantly enhance access healthcare in the area.
President Ruto has reaffirmed the national government’s commitment to improve healthcare services across the country through collaboration with the county governments.
“I will give Sh 30 million to your Governor to help in upgrading this hospital further so that residents can get good services,” Ruto added
He says the national government will work closely with the devolved governments in the establishment of advanced healthcare infrastructure to expand access to quality healthcare at the grassroots level.
Area Governor Fatuma Achani who described the upgrades as a ‘game changer’ says the upgrades and the new projects initiated by the County government are expected to ease the burden of the residents to travel in search of specialized treatment and medication.
Governor Achani says the Mkongani level 4 Hospital will now be conducting specialized consultant services for over 1500 expectant mothers monthly, intervene at an early stage of pregnancy further reducing the mobility and mortality of pregnant mothers.
She says the upgrading of hospitals is poised to bring not only improved health outcomes but also numerous socio-economic benefits by stimulating local businesses and attracting a wide range of healthcare professionals.
The coastal county boss with this upgrade, specialized medical care and major surgeries will now be performed at the hospital, reducing referrals to other hospitals.
She says the facility that has a catchment area of over 10,000 residents in eight villages including Mkongani A, Mkongani B,Vumirira, Goyo among others will now perform major surgical procedures such as caesarean sections, hernia repairs, and appendectomies.
“Having a theatre and medical officers in Mkongani Hospital means surgical interventions will be managed onsite without referring to Kwale Hospital that is 40 kilometers away,” she said.
She said her administration has upgraded Kwale, Lungalunga, Samburu and Kinango hospitals to level 4 facilities, while Msambweni hospital was upgraded to a referral hospital to deal with specialized treatment including Intensive Care Unit that provides intensive care medicine, kidney dialysis, Tuberculosis culture, specialized dental services, specialized Antenatal care, smear microscopy among other specialized services.
Achani further said that her administration has brought health services closer to Wanainchi through construction and equipping of health facilities and employment of enough medical practitioners.
“So far we have built over 178 dispensaries and employed over 1800 health workers and over 1600 Community Health Workers across the County to ensure that residents access healthcare with ease,” she said.
She says residents are no longer traveling long distances to reach the nearest hospitals or clinics as was the case before the advent of devolution in 2013.
Achani has asked the residents to patronize the public hospitals to justify the huge spending on the renovations and equipping of the hospitals with state-of-the-art equipment.
By Hussein Abdullahi
