KENYA— The Kenyatta University (KU) leadership, has appealed to the President to revert a 2019 legal notice that made the Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) an independent parastatal.
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paul Wainaina sought the reinstation on the basis that the university’s medical programs risked losing accreditation because they were certified based on having a teaching hospital.
KU previously lost its takeover bid last year, with government officials alleging that the university was already broke and could not run a hospital of KUTRRH stature.
The hospital in question opened its doors to patients in October 2019 months after it became a parastatal.
“The infrastructure at KUTRRH was inspected and included as part of the School of Medicine during the last inspection by the East Africa Medical Council and Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council in 2020,” Wainaina said.
According to the VC, the two facilities currently operate independently, and the hospital does not allow KU medical students to train on its premises.
“Medical students must travel for almost 40km to access another facility for medical education. This inconveniences the students and increases operational costs of the university, considering the current financial constraints,” Wainaina added.
In his appeal to Ruto, Wainaina said a report by the National Assembly Committee on Implementation in September 2021 advised the government to restore the hospital to KU.
“The specific recommendations were that the President should revoke Legal Notice No. 4 of 2019 and revert the KUTRRH to a university hospital within six months of the adoption of the report,” Wainaina recalled.
The academician added that the committee also said that the Cabinet Secretaries for Education and Health were to ensure that KU’s College of Health Sciences has full access to the KUTRRH facilities for study.
The decision to make KUTTRH a parastatal was initially made in October 2018 by an inter-ministerial committee chaired by then Health CS Sicily Kariuki.
In attendance were CSs Amina Mohamed (Education) and Henry Rotich (Treasury) and officials from KU led by VC Prof Wainaina.
The committee agreed the facility would also serve as the teaching hospital of the KU Medical School.
It would have a chief executive officer and a board comprising the VC, the KU council chairman, and the dean of the school of medicine.
The chairman of the board would be appointed by the President, while two other members would be appointed by the Health CS.
Prof. Wainaina notes that all the agreements and arrangements made through the committee did not materialize.
A tag of war- KU’s Wainaina versus KUTTRH Mugenda
Prof. Wainaina cited Legal Notice No. 39 of 2021 that amended Legal Notice No. 4 of 2019 by removing the vice-chancellor, the university council representative, and the director general MoH from the hospital board.
“These are very key policy persons in the university and the Ministry of Health,” he said.
Prof. Wainaina also noted that the envisioned university hospital was established to place emphasis on medical education and research with quality clinical service provision being a byproduct.
In an interview in November 2021, the current hospital board chair, Prof. Olivia Mugenda said making KUTRRH a parastatal ensured decision-making is quicker and more efficient.
“The original vision was to have a hospital that is associated with the university,” Prof Mugenda added.
Prof Mugenda acknowledged that despite the previous mandate, it did not mean it had to be run by the university since it was very difficult to run both.
“And I have done both now and I noticed you cannot run a university and run the hospital. It is very difficult,” the former KU Don added.
Additionally, speaking on the matter at a function in June 2023, Prof. Mugenda emphatically rejected the claims that students from KU do not train at the facility were untrue.
Instead, the hospital shifted the blame to Vice-Chancellor Paul Wainaina, for failing to align the medical students with the industry regulator (Kenya Medical Board and Nursing Council) policies, as required by law.
Prof. Mugenda said that they have been misleading reports in sections of the media to the effect that the hospital does not offer training slots to KU students.
While stating that some medical students still train at the facility depending on the courses they are pursuing, Mugenda, the former KU VC, maintained that there are courses that demand clearance from the regulator.
According to policy and guidelines, Mugenda explained medical training institutions usually contact the regulator regarding hospitals they would like to train with.
Board Chair divulged that the Level 6 Hospital is in a training partnership with at least 10 other institutions of higher learning including Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, United States International University, and Mount Kenya University among others.
“As a trainer and the one who established the KU medical school, there is no way I or my Board can refuse to allow them. Those allegations are baseless and untruthful,” Mugenda noted.
Prof. Mugenda further explained that medical students are expected to go to level 3, 4, and 5 hospitals to get basic training skills before being taken through referral facilities like KUTRRH.
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