First Lady launches maternity hospital in Uasin Gishu county

First Lady Rachel Ruto. [Rachel Ruto, X]

Uasin Gishu county has launched a modern maternity hospital in Eldoret, fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment worth Sh1 billion.

The maternity hospital which was refurbished and named Mama Rachel maternity hospital in honor of First Lady Rachel Ruto boasts a 70-bed capacity and is end the pain of women who endure long queues in hospitals. The facility was formerly known as Westmaternity Hospital.

The First Lady, who presided over the launch of the facility, said that healthcare is one of the priorities of the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda.

“The existing medical facilities, especially maternity hospitals have been overstretched and this new specialised facility is timely to ensure the safety of mothers and children. I am humbled to have the hospital named in my honor,” she said.

Ms Ruto noted that the facility boasts a fully equipped theatre, a class E laboratory, a fully stocked pharmacy, an ultra-modern diagnostic ultrasound, an x-ray unit and an ICT centre.

The facility has also been equipped with operating equipment, 20 general incubators and two highly specialized tunnel incubators as well as 40 antenatal care and post-natal wards and modern delivery beds.

Governor Jonathan Bii said the hospital will have gynecological units for reproductive health issues.

“This facility will offer curative, reproductive health, maternal and child health services and enhanced skill development among healthcare workers. It will encourage mothers to transition from home deliveries to using advanced hospital equipment crucial for safeguarding the health of both mothers and newborns,” said the governor.

The First Lady also presided over the launch of drone initiative to collect medical samples from 117 public health facilities in the county for analysis at a central facility and relay the results back to the health centres electronically.

"I have received information that the drone will transport medical samples from the Chagia Health Centre in Ainabkoi Constituency, the furthest health care centre in the county, to Huruma Sub-County Hospital in just seven minutes," she said.

The initiative is a collaboration between Uasin Gishu county, Israeli, and German organisations to leverage technology in offering diagnosis before treatment.

“This collaboration between the county government and other international organisations is a national case study on the optimisation of healthcare resources by leveraging technology to ensure there is proper diagnosis before treatment. The partnership will improve access to healthcare for residents especially those in rural areas,” she said.

She noted that the technology would help save time as the drone can ferry samples in less than ten minutes in distances that by road would take up to an hour.

Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni hailed the new facility saying that it is well equipped.

“Most of our facilities lack significant equipment. Technology and digitisation is the way to go as evidenced in our Digital Health Act 2023. Drones can come in handy in seasons where floods hinder the transportation of medication and diagnostics to ensure every Kenyan can access healthcare,” said Muthoni.

The PS announced that the transition from National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) was on course.

“Nobody will ever be sent home from any facility be it public, private or faith-based because of lack of money. We have taken care of everyone. If you are not able to afford the Sh300, the government will cater for you,” she said.

She assured that mothers who will be seeking medicare at various maternity hospitals will be covered by SHIF.

“SHIF is the best thing that will happen in the health sector because we have the primary healthcare fund, the social health insurance fund and the chronic illness fund so that everyone can access affordable healthcare,” said the PS.

According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2022, 14.4 per cent of women in Uasin Gishu cannot access a health facility within an hour when in need of healthcare services.

The launch of the maternity hospital comes on the backdrop of the Auditor General report which revealed that most health facilities in the country lack adequate infrastructure for maternal and neonatal services.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu's report showed that mothers in labour and those in postnatal stage are forced to share wards due to lack of ideal maternity units in level II and III health facilities.

The audit further revealed that 7 out of 26 level IV health facilities in the country do not have theaters while those that have theaters are not operational.

“Health facilities lacking theaters have to refer caesarean section cases to other facilities which end up congesting higher level hospitals with cases that could have been handled at lower health facilities,” read the report by Gathungu.

The report further indicates that most level II facilities do not have laboratories and therefore cannot carry out required tests for the first antenatal visits which have a negative impact on expectant mothers and unborn children.

Gathungu flagged out Level IV and V facilities for lack of newborn units. She said that these facilities refer babies in need of critical care to other hospitals. The Auditor General regretted that  most health facilities also lack incubators to protect premature babies from infections with two to three babies sharing one incubator.