Gov't to upgrade all Level III hospitals in Ksh.2.3 billion project

The National Government through the Ministry of Health (MoH) is seeking to upgrade all Level III hospitals across the 47 counties to Level IIIA hospitals, in an initiative that will cost taxpayers Ksh.2.3 billion. 

MoH Head of Infrastructure Development, Eng. Michael Thuita, says that the hospitals, which will cost a little over Ksh.50 million each, will enhance access to quality healthcare services across Kenya.

Speaking after handing over a site set aside for the construction of one such facility in Ugenya, Siaya County on Tuesday, Thuita told Citizen Digital that the project aims to elevate the Urenga Health Centre from its current status.

"We have come here to give the site to the contractor. We want to do a Level IIIA facility. The project is a national government project and it is going to cost over Ksh.50 million. The project is just to upgrade the facility from a Level III to a Level IIIA," he said.

"A level IIIA hospital is more advanced than a Level III facility. We are doing these projects in all the counties."

Thuita added that the upgrading of Urenga Health Centre will take approximately 52 weeks after which it will be handed over to the Siaya County Government.

He thus challenged the County Government of Siaya to start thinking about how it will operationalize the facility once the aforementioned is done.

Siaya County’s Director of Public Health Kennedy Orwenjo, on his part, welcomed the project stating that it will greatly boost the provision of healthcare services in the region.

He observed that the pediatric ward, postnatal ward, theatre, ultrasound room and laboratory, which he says will be constructed at the facility, will boost provision of healthcare services.

Orwenjo added that the unit will also open up Urenga to be a Teaching and Referral hospital to be utilized by the students of Kenya Medical Training College in Ugenya.

"Ugenya has a Kenya Medical and Training College that is adjacent to the hospital. So if we add this particular unit we are going to open up Urenga to be a teaching facility," he said.

"KMTC will then be able to offer courses like nursing where students enrolled will be taken through the course within Urenga Health Centre."