News Categories: Health and Sanitation

The construction of five modern health complexes in Nandi County will begin soon.

A tender for the construction of the modern hospital complexes was advertised recently and construction will begin soon after evaluation exercise is completed.

Governor Sang’s administration wants to make sure patients are treated in Nandi and not referred to far-flung facilities out of the county.

The first phase of the health complexes is expected to be the finest in the region.

The over 300 bed capacity Kapsabet County Referral Hospital for instance will boast a Mother and Baby Wing, a High Dependence Unit (HDU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency and Response Unit, state-of-the-art theatres and a Cancer Screening Centre at a cost of about Sh 500 million with the first phase costing a tune of 100 million.

This is one of the major projects that the county government is undertaking to reduce referral cases from Nandi to MTRH and Nairobi and also improve health care services in the county.

Other facilities are Chepterwai Hospital Complex, Kabiyet Hospital Complex, Kobujoi Hospital Complex and Nandi Hills Hospital.

The County Government of Nandi has an established functional renal unit at the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital that has ensured Nandi residents receive dialysis services without traversing long distances in search of these interventions.

According to the Medical Superintendent Dr. Daniel Kemboi, the availability of the services has increased the number of patients currently on hemodialysis. He said so far 14 patients are being attended to every week, this translates to 28 sessions carried at the facility per week. He was speaking at the facility while marking the World Kidney Day 2019 on Thursday themed “Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere.”

The Medical Superintendent said four state of the art dialysis machines, are relieving renal failure patients the agony of seeking the service in far-flung hospitals.

Dr Kemboi said the services are offered Monday through Friday and on weekends in case of an emergency. He added that there is an experienced team of doctors and nurses working at the unit and asked patients within Nandi county to seek services at the facility.

According to Dr. Kemboi, the hospital is offering the services at Sh7,500 for non-NHIF patients.” NHIF members are fully covered for the service.

The Medical Superintendent said many Kenyans who suffer from renal failure die because they cannot afford the recommended dialysis sessions due to financial challenges. “Each dialysis session costs about Sh7,500 in our hospital and between Sh12,000 to Sh15,000 in private facilities and the recommended frequency of dialysis sessions per week is two making it very hard for a common person to afford,” he said.

Dr Kemboi emphasised on the need for sensitisation about the disease whose common causes are diabetes and hypertension.

He called on Nandi residents to enroll for NHIF.

Front line healthcare workers comprising of Clinical Officers, Nurses and Nutritionists at level 2-5 of health service delivery in Nandi are undergoing a five days World Bank supported Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood illness (IMNCI) training, a strategy developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to improve child survival. IMNCI seeks to improve case management skills of first level health workers, strengthen the health system for effective management of sick children, and promote good family and community child care practices.

The IMNCI strategy forms a critical component of the Kenya Essential Package of Health (KEPH).

The 5 days of training combines classroom work with hands-on clinical practise, and participants achieve competency by repetition, combined with individual feedback from facilitators.

Rather than make a diagnosis, IMNCI trained practitioners will be able to classify the child’s illness according to severity using a series of algorithms, from which specific treatments are identified with emphasis on nutrition, health promotion and counselling. The child is treated holistically with evidence-based interventions that are feasible to implement.

The training will enable the health practitioners reduce the infant and child mortality in Nandi County, where deaths occur annually in children under-5 years old; most deaths are from common, preventable and easily treatable childhood diseases.

HIV/AIDS is the commonest cause of death in children under-5 years, but diarrhoeal disease, pneumonia and malnutrition remain the main causes of mortality.

IMNCI if well adopted can reduce more than 50% of causes of under 5 deaths.

Beyond Zero Coordinator Angela Lang’at on Saturday at the Nyayo National Stadium Nairobi, received Kshs 200,000 from the County Government of Nandi in support of this year’s Beyond Zero Marathon.

This year’s marathon will be held on Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi County.

The cheque was handed over to the Beyond Zero team in the presence of Athletics Kenya President Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei by the County CEC for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech together with the Chief Officer for Sports Kennedy Tanui and the Chief of Staff Priscilla Rono.

While presenting the donation, the CEC for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech commended the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for her passionate effort and desire to make a difference in people’s lives.

On her part, Angela Lang’at said the Beyond Zero healthcare initiatives have had a huge impact on health delivery to vulnerable populations especially in hard to reach parts of Kenya.

“The Beyond Zero impact on the ground is truly amazing and you can see it,” said Angela.

This year’s event is special, especially to people living with disability as they are fully catered for.

The event will for the first time act as a Paralympics qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Through the Department of Sports, Youth Affairs and Arts, the County Government of Nandi sponsored 20 athletes for the event, noted Kennedy Tanui the Sports Chief Officer.

Since inception in January 2014, Beyond Zero continues to play a key role in the elimination of preventable maternal and early childhood deaths as outlined in the Beyond Zero Campaign.

The success of Beyond Zero is well demonstrated by the progressive improvement in key maternal health indicators as well as HIV prevention and management especially in Nandi County. There has also been an increase in stakeholder participation and goodwill, all necessary for a healthy population.

Over ten families whose houses were gutted by fire in Belekenya shopping centre in Kosirai Ward have found solace after the County Government of Nandi brought in relief supplies.

The families who were living in ten rental houses belonging to Mr Joseph Maiyo at Belekenya were rendered homeless after a fire swept through the area and reduced their dwelling units and household goods into ashes.

Led by the Deputy Governor Dr. Yulita Cheruiyot, the County Secretary Dr. Francis Sang, CEC for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech, Kosirai Ward MCA Hon. Joshua Ng’etich and other county officials visited the victims to deliver aid from the county government.

“We understand the pain our people are going through especially those who lost everything. We are doing all we can to help them recover. We hope the assistance offered will help towards rebuilding their lives,” said the Deputy County boss.

The fire consumed a business premise, residential homes, several bags of maize, household goods and five sheep.

The affected families, each was given beddings, food stuff and utensils.

The cause of fire is yet to be known.

The affected residents thanked the county government for the donations and for the response by the county fire team.

The short term assistance was availed to alleviate the human suffering occasioned by fire. A fundraiser will be held on Friday next week to aid the affected residents to settle.

Ongoing support is needed for health workers in the frontline of service delivery to perform to their full potential and deliver quality patient care.

The County Health Management Team (CHMT) on Monday embarked on a two weeks Support Supervision exercise with the three teams targeting the six sub county facilities and level 4 Hospitals.

The supervision exercise is an excellent opportunity to provide further training to improve performance and to solve other systemic problems that contribute to poor quality of care.

One of the cornerstones of the supportive supervision is to work with health staff to set goals, monitor performance, identify and correct problems and proactively improve service quality.

The Health Management Teams and health workers identify shortcomings in the field and directly work on it, thus avoiding the bad practices become habits. The supervision visits are also an opportunity to encourage good practices and help health workers to maintain high quality delivery.

The support supervision encourages a collaborative approach to strengthen the health system in Nandi and to improve the quality of services. It is an effective tool for improving performances.

Action plans will be jointly crafted at the end of the supervisory visits, and will be followed up in the subsequent supervisory visits to ensure continuity and implementation of the recommendations.

Plans are in place to support the Sub County Health Management Teams (SCHMT) to undertake their sub county support supervision.

Supportive supervision promotes the sustainable management and efficient use of resources by encouraging communication, as well as planning and monitoring results.

At the onset of Governor Sang’s administration, he pledged to prioritize the improvement of health services and increase access to quality health care.

In his address to the County Assembly, Governor Stephen Sang outlined health as one of the key accomplishments that the County Government has achieved in the last two years.

Governor Sang said that the county had performed exemplary well in all the health indicators and reiterated his government’s commitment in providing quality, accessible and affordable health care to Nandi residents.

While giving the state of the county address at the Nandi County Assembly the governor said his administration has ensured constant supply of drugs and other medical supplies and patients are now being treated in health centers within their localities relieving pressure from the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital.

At the same time, Dialysis and MRI services are now available at the Kapsabet Referral Hospital. This has greatly reduced the distance patients from Nandi had to cover to access these crucial services.

Additionally, the governor said that the construction of a new theatre is complete and the installation of a CT Scan is ongoing and will be operationalized in the next three weeks.

He noted that an oxygen plant at the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital will be installed in a week’s time. Patients in critical conditions and the children’s ward will now have oxygen supply by their bedsides. This will reduce deaths brought about by respiratory complications and lack of oxygen for other critical medical procedures.

The governor mentioned that an additional theatre is almost complete at the Nandi Hills Sub County Hospital, this will ease access of services. The expansion of the Out-Patient Department (OPD) to increase space for consultation services is also ongoing.

Sang said that power upgrade and standby generator at both Kapsabet and Nandi Hills hospitals are now fully operational. This therefore means the frequent interruption of service provision due constant power blackouts in the two facilities is now a thing of the past.

The county boss attributed the improved health services to both infrastructural and personnel development saying that his government is renovating over 70 facilities across the county; this include health centers and dispensaries. This is meant to bring healthcare services closer to the people.

To further increase access to healthcare services by Nandi residents, he said his government has advertised for a Mother and Child Hospital at KCRH, an Out Patient Department in Nandi Hills and at Chepterwai Sub County Hospital.

At the same time, the expansion of Kabiyet, Kobujoi, Mosoriot and Meteitei Hospitals is now under procurement.

He said that that the county government has so far employed 10 Medical Officers, 2 Specialists, 60 Clinical Officers and 50 Nurses.

The governor also disclosed that ambulance services had been revamped noting that the county government has procured 10 ICU-type ambulances that will be fully equipped to offer critical care to patients while on transit.

Governor Sang said that there is a continued dialogue and progressive implementation of the CBA that has ensured healthcare services remain uninterrupted in health facilities, which is not the case in many counties across the Nation. He thanked all cadres of staff in the health sector for their continued support in delivering quality services to our people.

Evidently, the County Government of Nandi is on the path to achieving universal health care.

Nandi county is intensifying the use of technological innovations as it gears to rollout universal health coverage.

The department of health and sanitation is increasingly leveraging Health Management Information System (HMIS) to support decision making.

The department is also using the HIV Infant Tracking system HIT System in tracking HIV positive clients not linked to care.

The HIV Infant Tracking system is a tool developed in response to a simple need – the tracking of infants born to HIV-positive mothers.

By reducing months to days by tracking of specimens and reporting of results, the HIT System assists in insuring the early-initiation of ART for HIV-positive infants and to relieve social stigma for infants who have not contracted the virus.

Nandi county has also used technology to draw the correlation between accessibility of health facilities and its impacts on skilled delivery as envisaged by the World Health Organization under UHC.

Access to healthcare is a constitutional right and institutions like the University of Eldoret will soon mount tailor-made courses that can sustainably address the gaps in the healthcare sector.

The County Government of Nandi in collaboration with the University of Eldoret is seeking to promote access to affordable healthcare through training, research , consultancy and community outreach services in Nandi.

A Memorandum of  Understanding between the County Government of Nandi and The University of Kansas Medical Centre (KU-MED), Kansas City has began to bear fruits.

The University has installed a web-based system known as HIT System at the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital. This is an HIV-Infant Tracking system tool that is developed developed in response to a simple need – the tracking of infants born to HIV-positive mothers in under-resourced nations around the world.

HIT System ensures the early-initiation of ART for HIV-positive infants and to relieve social stigma for infants who have not contracted the virus. This is made possible because the number of days for tracking of specimens and reporting of results is reduced.

The Dean and Professor in the School of Health Professions, Prof. Abioudun Akinwuntan, visited Nandi and held a meeting with the CECM for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech and other officials. Prof. Abioudun stated that the University will support the County’s efforts in improving its health systems.

In particular, Prof. Abioudun said areas of focus will be addressing communicable diseases, among other infectious diseases. Other areas of concern will include training and educational exchange programs. Immediate action points by KU-MED will be visitations, training and sustainability.

It will be remembered that Governor Stephen Sang during his visit to Kansas City in 2018, signed an MOU with The University of Kansas Medical Centre. The MOU is aimed at boosting cultural, educational and research cooperation and to improve health outcomes in specified areas of the Health Sector in the County.

The agreement was inked by the University of Kansas Chancellor, Douglas Girod and the University of Kansas Medical Centre Vice Chancellor, Robert Simari Klein for the University.

The agreement covers sponsorship activities for educational experiences, exchange programs for research personnel and graduate students, joint research, exchange of academic materials such as research reports and exchange of information especially in the medical field.

The agreement covers sponsorship activities for educational experiences, exchange programs for research personnel and graduate students. others include joint research, exchange of academic materials such as research reports and exchange of information especially in the medical field.

The County Government of Nandi on her part, will facilitate the University by allowing its personnel to use its health facilities for Medical Research purposes as well as provide policy and strategic direction on implementation of activities agreed upon by the two parties.

“Through collaborative, funded work on specific projects, we are certain that we’ll improve the health sector in our County,” said Koech.

The team toured Kapsabet County Referral Hospital and Prof. Abioudun thanked the county leadership for transforming and equipping the facility with modern equipments.

Present at the meeting were Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Services Sally Kemboi, Chief Officer Medical Services Dr. Paul Lagat, Director Administration and Operations Dr. Philemon Bureti among other County Health Management officials.

Health facilities in Nandi county are undergoing infrastructural upgrade to achieve the required status. This confirms Governor Sang’s commitment to ensure health services provided to the residents are of high standards.

The people of Nandi are entitled to quality, accessible and affordable healthcare and that’s why Governor Sang’s administration is keen on working towards achieving improved medical care in all health facilities.

Part of the upgrade at the Kapsabet county referral hospital include the installation of an oxygen plant, construction of doctor’s lounge, renovation of rehabilitative department, construction of ablution block in outpatient, renovation of MCH parking area and new rear entrance including drive ways, construction of covered walkways linking theatre II, maternity and Nyayo wards, refurbishment of Nyayo wards 7,8 and 9, renovation of outpatient and administration block, installation of elevated steel brazed water tank, cabling, renovation of filter and specialized clinic block and piping of the two theatres.

Newly constructed Doctor’s Lounge at KCRH

In Nandi hills hospital, the construction and installation of a new power back up generator is complete, cabling works and expansion of the outpatient is ongoing whereas the construction of the new mortuary is nearing completion.

Other facilities undergoing renovations are Soba river health centre, Potopoto dispensary, Chemase Health centre,  Meteitei sub county hospital, Chepyegoris, Kabiemit, Kipsamoite, Kapmamut, Mosombor, Koyo, Siksik, Kemeloi, Kobujoi, Boi, Samitui, Kibonze, Kaptumo, Tamboiyo, Masan, Kapyagan/Kibirbei, Kilibwoni, Taito, Ndubeneti, Mosoriot, Siwo, Setek, Kosoiywo, Taito, Ndubusat, Kamwega, Chepnyogoson, Chepterwai, Serem Health Centre, Kapsengere and Ol’Lessos Model Health Centre.

Ongoing construction of Oxygen Plant at KCRH

Plans are also underway to construct a modern Mother and Baby wing at the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital.

Governor Sang’s administration will continually improve the stature of health facilities in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human resources for health.

The ongoing upgrade and operationalization of other health facilities across the entire county will greatly improve the County’s capacity for disease diagnosis and treatment and reduce to a minimum, the long journeys patients currently have to endure while seeking specialized treatment in MTRH.