Chuka hospital set for level five upgrade on Ruto order
The newly constructed Sh230 million outpatient building at Chuka Hospital in Tharaka Nithi County.
Chuka County Referral Hospital is set to be upgraded to Level Five facility on the orders of President Ruto.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the facility on Monday, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha pledged to work with the county government to ensure that the hospital meets the required standards.
She said one of the requirements is having an operational High Dependence Unit and an Intensive Care Unit.
“During the campaigns, President Ruto visited this hospital and made a pronouncement about the upgrading to Level Five and my tour today was to check on the preparedness. There are a number of areas that must be improved to meet the requirements but my ministry will work with the county government to fix and we have a very short time to work in order to meet the President’s timeline,” said Ms Nakhumicha.
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki said the upgrade will improve health services.
Mr Njuki said the hospital serves many people including from the neighbouring Embu, Meru and Kitui counties.
Medical equipment
“We have met a majority of the requirements for this hospital to be upgraded to Level Five and we are committed to working on the remaining part,” said Mr Njuki. The CS asked county governments to make good use of the multibillion-shilling medical equipment leased through the controversial Sh300 billion Managed Equipment Services (MES) scheme.
She noted that, in many counties, the equipment had greatly improved medical services.
Mr Njuki also urged the CS to assist Marimanti Level Four Hospital get a CT-scan machine as the only one in the county is at Chuka County Referral Hospital, several kilometres away.
At Marimanti Level Four Hospital, the CS inspected the newly installed telemedicine system, which networks hospitals enabling medics in small health facilities to seek referral services from doctors in big hospitals without having to transfer patients to the facilities.
The CS said the system has been piloted in Tharaka Nithi and Nakuru counties and that, if successful, will be rolled out in the other counties.
Mr Njuki said the technology has helped medical officers in remote dispensaries like Gatunga to communicate with doctors in Chuka County Referral Hospital for help in diagnosing patients, reducing the cost and risk of transporting patients. The two officials further raised concerns about the scarcity of doctors despite the fact that there are many unemployed.
Universal Health Care
Ms Nakhumicha said most of the employed doctors were on study leave and that there was a need for to ensure health officers who go for further studies do not affect service delivery.
“I have been informed that this county requires 50 doctors but it has been able to employ 20 and 14 are on study leave,” she said, adding that her ministry will develop an inventory capturing all health professionals in the country “to know who is where”.
She noted that, to implement the Universal Health Care (UHC) programme, the national government will from July roll out mass registration to the National Health Insurance Fund scheme to ensure all Kenyans afford healthcare.
Mr Njuki, who is also the Council of Governor’s Health Committee chairman, called on county governments to enact Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) regulation that allows health facilities to manage the funds they generate.
The Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 stops counties from retaining, banking and directly spending the collected revenue. The money must be submitted to the central County Revenue Fund account from where all the sectors can request for use.
Mr Njuki said the bureaucracies associated with the PFM Act results in less funding to hospitals and delays in procurement of essential supplies among other challenges that affect the efficient delivery of health services.
