March 19, 2024

County Initiates Plans to Revamp Health Sector

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro stresses a point during a press briefing after conducting a tour of the Malindi Sub County Hospital Tuesday. (Photo/ By The COAST Photographer)

By The COAST Reporter 

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

Kilifi County has initiated a plan that intends to revamp the health sector by involving investors and nongovernmental organizations operating in the coastal devolved unit.

Governor Gideon Mung’aro said he has had several meetings with senior officials of various organizations operating within the county to map out ways of incorporating them in the rehabilitation and improvement of services at Malindi Sub County Hospital and other health facilities across the county.

Mung’aro said the hospital was highly congested with some patients either sharing beds or sleeping on the floor, while some critical pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies were reportedly lacking.

Mung’aro disclosed to the representatives of the organizations that the hospital, which was at one time celebrated as among the best health institutions in the country, lacks vital facilities such as Computerized Tomogram (CT) Scan machines, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines and an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) among others, while some buildings are too old and still roofed with the highly carcinogenic asbestos sheets.

The Governor pleaded to the investors and nongovernmental organizations to consider the Hospital in their various corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions as well as partnering with the county government to sort out the health issues of local residents, who also form the bulk of their organizations’ workforce.

General ward at <Malindi Subcounty Hospital (Photo/ Courtesy)

He further said he cannot over emphasize the need for partnering be it in the short-term or in the long-term because the county resources are not adequate to effectively address the gaps in the county’s health sector.

‘Identify areas you could partner with the county government at the Malindi hospital and other health facilities in the county, including the Kilifi County Referral Hospital, which are also in dire need of a facelift. I have called you here to see for yourselves and identify areas you can partner with us both in the short-term and the long-term,” the governor told the partners at a meeting held before conducting a tour of the hospital.

Flanked by senior officers in the County Department of Health and Sanitation, at the same time Governor Mung’aro, reiterated that his administration would build a Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital in partnership with Pwani University.

“The university has already allocated us land to build the Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital within the university,” he said adding that once that project is complete, patients in the county would not have to travel to other counties for specialized treatment.

Meanwhile Malindi Sub County Hospital Superintendent Dr. Joe Gayo said the Hospital Management Committee had developed a strategic plan which if implemented would increase the capacity of the hospital through the construction of modern buildings and installation of an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) System.

Represetatives of various organizations who held a meeting with Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro with a view to seeking partnership to revamp the health sector in the county. Photo By The COAST Photographer)

“We have also been earmarking having an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a maternity wing with theatres as well as a 12-bed amenity wing and washing facilities at the hospital mortuary to serve the Muslim community in preparing bodies for interment,” Gayo said.  

Representatives of the various organizations, which included Mombasa Cement Factory and Revital Healthcare Company and a number of nongovernmental organizations, pledged to support the governor in his bid to improve healthcare in the county. So far Mombasa Cement has already started assisting the health sector in the county by constructing a perimeter wall around the nine-acre Malindi Sub County Hospital land among other projects in other sub counties

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