The national government plans to work with Laikipia County to set up a regional mental healthcare unit at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The hospital, among the largest in the region, was proposed to become one of the six regional mental healthcare units in the country.
Nanyuki Referral has vast grounds that would provide the much-needed space to run a mental health unit, said Laikipia Health Services Chief Officer Donald Mugoi.
The facility will help handle the region’s referrals, to the relief of those seeking the services far away from home.
Officials from the Ministry of Health, led by Director of Mental Health Services Dr Simon Njuguna and Dr Frank Njenga, a senior adviser on the Presidential Task Force on Mental Health, visited the hospital last week, Dr Mugoi said.
“We had an extensive discussion centred on [transforming] health systems to include mental health services at all the levels of healthcare provision in line with the growing demands,” he said.
The team also discussed the services provided currently and growth plans with the aim of strengthening access to mental health in the county.
The visit came days after construction started on a 600-bed ultramodern mental health hospital in Ngong, Nairobi, to address the rising burden of mental health in Kenya.
These investments are informed by the National Task Force on Mental Health, the Suicide Prevention Strategy 2021-2026, and Mental Health and Wellbeing: Towards Happiness and National Prosperity. BY DAILY NATION