KENYA – Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital (MeTRH), located in Meru County, has successfully performed its first spinal surgery, the first in Upper Eastern region.
Patients with spine and head injuries in Meru will no longer be referred to Nairobi after the county government hired its first neurosurgeon this month.
A team of orthopaedic surgeons and other specialists led by Dr Muthoka Mativo, a neurosurgeon, conducted two successful operations, marking a major milestone for the hospital.
Dr Mativo said one of the patients, a 23-year-old man, was involved in an accident and suffered a neck fracture. The other patient, an elderly man, has been living with paralysis.
“We are glad that we now have the equipment and support at the hospital hence patients will no longer have to travel all the way to Nairobi. We have a competent team of medics to ensure all risks are mitigated,” Dr Mativo said.
Dr Kinyia Ndegwa, an orthopaedic surgeon and head of the surgery unit, said the hospital has been receiving many accident cases that could not be treated before.
“The success of the spine surgery is a sign of growth in our hospital. There are many cases of head and spine injuries due to boda boda accidents. We also get many cases of spine related injuries caused by arthritis. These cases can now be managed comprehensively,” Dr Ndegwa said.
According to Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital CEO, Dr Gacheri Kathiiri, the successful spinal surgery is a boost to the management’s efforts to transform the facility into a specialised hospital.
“We have been referring all our patients with spinal, neck and head injuries to Nairobi and many cases have had poor outcomes due to the distance. We expect another neurosurgeon next year and this will increase the number of patients being treated here,” Dr Gacheri said.
She said the spinal procedures were covered by the National Health Insurance Fund.
Earlier, Dr Gacheri, noted that the hospital is in the process of phasing out walk-in patients as it transits to referrals only.
She added that the hospital is also working on a one-bed-per-patient policy as well as back-referral, which allows patients to have surgery closer from home and shorten the treatment time.
Currently, the hospital receives more than 1,000 patients in its outpatient wing daily. The hospital, which has a capacity of 335 beds, admits about 500 patients in its wards at any given time, leading to sharing of beds.
“We would like the public to know that our level four hospitals now have specialists who can handle various conditions. We do not want patients to make the level five hospital the first point of contact. This will enable us to concentrate on specialised care and referral cases,” Dr Gacheri said, adding:
“Once the one one bed policy is in place, there will be no sharing of beds. We will also be referring patients back to level four hospitals.”
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