An ultra-modern hospital is under construction in the Naivasha Special Economic Zone.
The facility is being put up at a cost of Sh154 million by the Nakuru County government.
The county administration handed over the site to the contractor last week.
County Health executive Gichuki Kariuki on Tuesday revealed Nakuru is using part of Sh200 million it received from the national government’s Covid-19 economic stimulus package for the construction of the hospital near the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD) and the planned Industrial Park.
“The hospital will serve those in the Special Economic Zone as well as residents, who have been seeking health services at the Naivasha Sub-county and the Kijabe Mission hospitals,” added Dr Kariuki.
“The devolved unit will also construct living quarters for health workers at the facility to ensure it operates for 24 hours.”
The facility will house modern theatres, laboratories, x-ray and imaging centres, pharmacies and other essential services.
According to Dr Kariuki, the project will help reduce congestion at the Naivasha Sub-county Hospital and serve thousands of patients from Maai Mahiu and its neighbourhood.
This comes at a time Maai Mahiu and surrounding areas are experiencing rapid growth courtesy of multibillion-shilling projects being undertaken by the national government in the area.
Maai Mahiu town’s fortunes, for instance, are expected to greatly change, thanks to the establishment of the Naivasha Inland Container Depot and the planned construction of a multimillion-shilling industrial park in the area.
The recent launch of direct Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) cargo service from Mombasa to the Maai Mahiu-based Naivasha ICD has raised hopes of better times for the local economy.
The commencement of operations at the Naivasha ICD is expected to link Maai Mahiu and Naivasha towns to the East African and African trade circuits.
The county is building several other hospitals in Molo, Subukia, Njoro, Kuresoi and Gilgil, among other places.
The health docket was allocated Sh6.6 billion in the 2019/20 financial year, the lion’s share of the county’s total budget of Sh21.3 billion.
The health department received Sh6.3 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, part of which went to infrastructural upgrade and revamping of Molo, Naivasha, Elburgon and Gilgil Sub-county hospitals.
Governor Lee Kinyanjui’s administration has in the past one year revamped more than 20 health facilities that had been built by his predecessor, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua, between 2013 and 2017, but which had lain idle for many years.
The Naivasha sub-county hospital is undergoing a Sh300 million facelift.
Others that are being revamped include Gilgil Sub-county Hospital, where the construction of a Sh40 million maternity wing is underway, alongside an outpatient wing at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
The county is also building a multimillion-shilling outpatient complex at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
Molo Sub-county Hospital, which has previously been on the spot for poor services due to congestion, is also getting a makeover, with the construction of a Sh100 million outpatient wing going on at the facility.
Nakuru County has a total of 459 public and private health facilities.
The county runs 184 health facilities including dispensaries, health centres, Level Four hospitals and the Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
These are 14 Level 4 and 5 hospitals, 22 health centres, 187 dispensaries and 249 community units offering level-one health services.
The county has only one Level 5 hospital – the Nakuru Level Five Hospital – that serves as a referral hospital for more than five counties including Nakuru, Kericho, Baringo, Nyandarua, Samburu and Narok.
COURTESY OF THE DAILY NATION