Kiambu County government has allocated over Sh1.5 billion to implement health projects, a move that will see the county double its bed capacity from the current 1,608.
Governor Kimani Wamatangi revealed that the county plans to build 13 new level three hospitals in various wards at a total cost of Sh650 million, where each facility will cost Sh50 million, as part of initiatives to promote access to healthcare and improve service delivery.
While ground-breaking the construction of Kiamumbi Level Three Hospital in Kiambu Township Sub-County on Wednesday, Wamatangi said they will be completed and functional by the end of this year.
The new level three hospitals are Ndenderu, Gitothua, Kiawaroga in Limuru, Kiamumbi, Kawaida, Ndumberi, Gitaru, Kahawa Sukari, Kahawa Wendani, Athena in Thika, Kawaida, Mwihoko.
The new facilities, which, according to Wamatangi, will ensure that all wards in the county get at least one health facility, comprising an outpatient wing, a 26-bed maternity wing, a mini theatre and a mini-laboratory.
"We are also setting up a health management system to connect all 114 facilities in the county for proper management and effective monitoring of service delivery, including, among others, improving turnaround times and ensuring that each facility is adequately supplied so that, if stocks run low, the system will be able to notify for replenishing," Wamatangi said.
Further, the county was completing four level four hospitals, namely Githunguri, Lari, Bibirioni in Limuru, Thogoto Kikuyu, and Wangige, which had been put on hold for years due to the previous administration's failure to pay contractors at a cost of about Sh400 million.
Karuri Hospital in Kiambaa and Gachororo Level Three Hospital in Juja are also being upgraded to level three hospitals, where each facility will get a 200-bed capacity block at a total cost of Sh420 million.
On Thursday, Waitangi commissioned the resumption of the construction of Thogoto Level Four Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility with 150 beds in Kikuyu Sub-County that was commissioned in 2016
The facility was meant to serve the densely populated Kikuyu sub-county and parts of the nearby Ndeiya in Limuru, where patients had previously had to travel great distances to Kiambu, Tigoni, and Wangige hospitals.
The 150-bed Bibirioni Hospital, expected to cost around Sh300 million. The Lari Level Four project is expected to cost 192 million to create a 200-bed wing.
Also in the plan is Githunguri Level Four Hospital.
