A Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test machine issued to Kisii County by the national government in May is lying idle at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The PCR machine is worth millions of shillings according to Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache.
The machine was procured through the national government and the World Bank funding. Seventeen facilities benefited across the country.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae said they lack the centrifuge component which is important for separating components in biological samples.
“The machine has been here for almost three months, but that centrifuge component has not come, so it is not in operation. We are kindly requesting that we have it,” Mr Ongwae told Ms Mochache.
Governor Ongwae said the functionalisation of the machine will go a long way to boost Covid-19 surveillance and control.
The machine has the capacity to test more than 1,000 samples in 24 hours.
“This will improve the turnaround time for results from two days to a few hours because we have been taking our samples to Kisumu. It will also save on fuel and other transport expenditures to Kisumu,” Mr Ongwae said.
Once operational, the testing machine will be a relief not only to Kisii but also the neighbouring counties of Nyamira, Narok, Homa Bay, Migori and Bomet counties.
“We will basically cover what used to be the South Nyanza region,” said Mr Ongwae.
The governor thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta for considering Kisii county to have the machine, saying the county has been sending samples to Kisumu.
PS Mochache said it breaks her heart to hear that the machine which is worth millions of shillings is lying idle.
“I am asking our director in the ministry of health who is here, to ensure that we avail the centrifuge,” she said.
The two spoke on Tuesday as they launched registration of 63, 528 indigents for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Cover on Tuesday at Getembe Dispensary.
The Sh 380 million program is being implemented through the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and will be done in two phases with each taking 31, 764 members.
Both the national and county governments will contribute half of the resources.
Ms Mochache said the program is a boost to UHC, a key legacy project for President Uhuru Kenyatta, and will go a long way in helping cancer patients.
“This will help in chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment. We will have a cancer centre very soon in Kisii. We have already advertised for tendering and we will have contractors starting the project,” said Ms Mochache adding that Nakuru, Garissa and Mombasa will also have such centres.
The PS challenged Kisii County Government and Members of the County Assembly to pass the Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) Bill to ensure facility-generated funds are ploughed back for services sustainability.
“Our biggest challenge is that money paid by NHIF is not ploughed back to the hospital. It is put in other accounts and ends up going to other projects. I am pleading with MCAs to leave a legacy by passing the Bill to ensure the money paid by NHIF remains in that same facility,” said Ms Mochache.
On delays by NHIF to pay public hospitals, the PS said there are late submissions by public hospitals.
“I am speaking and addressing you as the Vice-Chair of the Council of Governors. I am urging you to talk to your colleagues to invest in quick processing for claims. Sometimes we are not as efficient as private hospitals to process our work very quickly so that we get money out,” said the PS.
She said for example, Kisii gets less than 27 percent of what it is supposed to get as claims.
Governor Ongwae had asked the Ministry of Health to intervene and have NHIF give government facilities priority because that is where the bulk of the people go.
“While we were in Mombasa, governors throughout the country made a lot of noise that public facilities are having problems of reimbursement while the private ones get theirs very quickly,” said Mr Ongwae.
“For us to be ready to register these people and pay NHIF, the health agency must pay the public health facilities where patients will be going,” said Mr Ongwae.
NHIF disbursed Sh 6 billion to medical facilities in Kisii County alone with public hospitals getting Sh 600 million only.
“Most funds went to private hospitals yet the bulk of the people go to public facilities. The danger here is that if I give you an example of Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, they are getting 3,500 outpatients every day. That is a heavy burden for the county,” said Mr Ongwae. BY DAILY NATION