Change of plans as Kakamega County opts to build new hospital

By BRYAN TUMWA

The Kakamega County Government has shelved plans to renovate the ancient general hospital which is symptomatic of the county’s ailing health infrastructure.

Established in 1922 as a military camp, the rundown hospital is also the county’s main medical facility serving all 12 constituencies.

Despite serving an estimated population of 1.8 million residents, the hospital has a morgue with a capacity of only 16 bodies. The hospital lacks a reliable power backup generator and crucial medical equipment like CT-Scan machines while the wards are too small to accommodate patients.

50 MORE DOCTORS

To make matters worse, the hospital has only 30 doctors to serve the many patients accessing it.

Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who had said he set aside Sh411 million for its refurbishment, has shelved the plans in favour of constructing a new facility as part of measures to improve the health care system.

“Those buildings in the general hospital which date to as far back as 1922 are too expensive to renovate. We realised that since there’s a piece of land owned by the hospital and conveniently located adjacent to it, establishing a new facility would make more sense,” said Oparanya.

He said a medical school would be established at the new hospital to cater for the training of new doctors.

The county would need 50 more doctors in order to ensure that all those seeking services at public health facilities are able to get quick and affordable medical care. “We have formed a committee composed of seven doctors from the county and six other representatives from Masinde Muliro University to fast-track the implementation of the medical school project,” said Oparanya.

Sh50 million has already been disbursed this financial year while an additional Sh50 million will be allocated next year.

“The main medical school will be situated elsewhere but the facility at the hospital will be for practicals and attachments for the students. We will encourage locals to train at the facility in order to attain the necessary human capital for the county,” added Oparanya.

The governor also sought to reassure health workers in the county, whose salaries and allowances were erroneously excluded in the salaries for January that the situation would be corrected. He made the remarks amidst reports that a healthcare crisis had hit the county over non-payment of salaries to hospital staff.

“In the process of cleaning up the payroll, some people might have been left out in preparing the salaries,” he said.