Kenya’s President Uhuru opens health facilities worth US$8.6M at Kenyatta National Hospital

KENYA – Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has officially opened three ultra-modern health facilities worth KES 1B (US$8.6M) at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi City County to ease access to quality healthcare.

The newly built and equipped advanced health facilities at Kenyatta National Hospital include the Zarina Merali Surgical Daycare Centre, the Centre for Kidney Disease & Organ Transplantation and Histocompatibility.

The new Centre for Kidney Disease & Organ Transplantation will enhance Kenyatta National Hospital’s ‘Interlife’ programme whose objective is to revamp kidney transplantation services in the country.

In addition, the advanced facility will further cement the referral hospital’s standing as a regional centre of excellence in the management of kidney diseases in East Africa as it has successfully performed over 200 kidney transplants under the interlife programme.

The facility established at the cost of KES 200M (US$1.71M) houses two fully equipped theatres, a 17-bed capacity ward, a resource centre, clinics and a seminar room to ensure Kenyan patients are no longer at risk of infections that could otherwise interfere with preferred clinical outcomes.

Moreover, KNH’s new Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory which is the first of its kind in East Africa will greatly support organ and tissue transplants by conducting donor and recipient matching locally.

The state-of-the-art centre will ensure that any kidney transplant patient can receive post-transplant care and clinical reviews from specialists in Kenya regardless of whether the surgery was done locally or outside the country.

Additionally, the well-equipped Zarina Merali Surgical Daycare Centre will act as preparation and recovery for patients requiring outpatient surgeries.

The facility will assist in prompt management of patients, preventing congestion in the wards, reduce pre-and post-surgical admissions as well as cut down theatre waiting times by enabling same-day surgeries and discharges.

The US$8.6M hospital upgrade was financed through government funds together with donations from development partners and philanthropists led by Zarina Merali Foundation in an effort to provide a broader range of specialist care to the public.

President Kenyatta affirmed that the launch of the facilities demonstrates the vast improvements in the country’s healthcare system achieved during his tenure of office and a genuine desire to bequeath generations of Kenyans with world-class facilities that deliver superlative health services for all.

“I have been taken around this facility and I can attest to its state-of-the-art theatres, world-class equipment and well-trained and dedicated personnel who are ready to offer a wide range of ambulatory surgeries like cosmetic, dental, gynecology and endoscopic surgeries to name but a few,” he added.

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