Residents decry congestion in wards at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital

Residents have raised concerns over the state and poor services at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret.

Those with patients in the country’s second largest referral hospital said the wards are congested forcing people to share beds.

Kipkorir Menjo, who had a patient in Kilimanjaro General Ward in the hospital, witnessed patients sharing beds meant for one person. He called on the Government to hasten the facility’s expansion programme that was approved in 2011.

Peter Kosgei, who was admitted in the hospital for two months, rues his time in the facility, saying the unwillingness of the Government to hasten the expansion of the hospital was negating the efforts of medical personnel.

“The nurses do a wonderful job, but the Government is letting them down. I wish one of our leaders would spend a day there to understand what Kenyans are going through in their quest for healthcare,” Mr Kosgei said.

Services affected

Maria Kibe, a resident of Uasin Gishu, was categorical that services in many departments, besides the wards, had been negatively affected.

“I had to wait from 10 in the morning to 3.30 in the afternoon to be cleared from the hospital after my child was discharged. The personnel at the children’s ward told us that the system was down and they could do little to help. Nyayo General Ward is another place where patients are bundled together,” she said.

A nurse who was doing rounds in one of the general wards yesterday morning said that the huge number of patients was overwhelming, forcing them to pair patients in one bed.

“We are doing our best to help the patients recover, but the challenge of limited space is beyond us. Somebody should help channel these issues to the Government,” said a nurse who sought anonymity.

The public called on the Government to continue with the Sh17 billion expansion and modernisation plan that had been approved during former President Mwai Kibaki’s regime in 2011.  The plan was to increase the facility’s in-patient capacity to more than 1,000 beds.

“If implemented it will help the hospital cater for many patients in a favourble environment,” said Mr Menjo.

OPTIMISE SPACE

“The disagreement over the construction of a new hospital worth Sh28 billion in Kiplombe stalled everything,” he adds sadly.

He said the Government should optimise the available space at MTRH and utilise it for the expansion rather than wait on an ambitious project that is yet to be approved.

Deputy President William Ruto opposed the Sh17 billion expansion plan of MTRH and proposed for the establishment of a new modern hospital on a 200-acre piece of land in Kiplombe that will have an in-patient capacity of 2,000 beds.

However, the proposed land for establishment of the ultra-modern hospital is in the middle of a court case over ownership between the Government and Keiyo Teachers Sacco, with the latter claiming rightful purchase and ownership since 2004.

MTRH was allocated Sh5.8 billion in the 2016/2017 national budget where the entire health sector received Sh60.8 billion.

Several efforts to reach the Hospital Managing Director Dr Wilson Aruasa for comment on the situation were futile as his phone went unanswered.