Barasa noted that the government was also committed to clearing the pending bills owed to facilities that offered services under the then National Health Insurance Fund scheme (NHIF).
The CS noted they have paid Sh5 billion of the Sh19 billion outstanding bill, with an additional Sh2.5 billion set to be paid by the end of this week.
Barasa assured that the government will give priority to public health facilities in payments of the pending bills.
She said she was happy that Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOORTH) had confirmed receiving part of the pending bills owed to them.
“We are happy with the progress so far on payments of the pending bills and we have assured them that the by end of November, they will have also received the first payment under SHA”.
She was speaking in Kisumu at JOORTH during the continuation routine evaluation of the SHA rollout across the country.
During her visit, she inspected different wards within the facility including Radiotherapy, Maternity, and Cancer Centers, among others.
She said the facility a level six(A) hospital was progressing well.
The CS noted that they believe that one of the challenges highlighted is the equity in the distribution of radiotherapy centres across the region.
“We are looking to ensure we have services across the region equitably distributed so that we don’t have everything being centralised in Nairobi.”
Equally, the CS said that they take note of the specialist missing and they will see how they can intervene.
She noted that she was happy to witness that patients were accessing the facility.
Barasa noted that the referral mechanism has also been activated and patients are being set to levels two, three, four and five before being referred to the highest level of care.
“It is essential that expectant mothers have access to vital healthcare services at Level 2, 3, and 4 facilities, with no one turned away as long as they are registered with SHA regardless of their ability to pay”.
Barasa reiterated the Ministry of Health’s commitment to expanding healthcare capacity, improving infrastructure, and ensuring that all kenyans have access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.
She requested stakeholders across the country to continue encouraging Kenyans to register for SHA to access healthcare.
“I am calling upon the political elites, healthcare providers and different stakeholders within the health sector to support us in communicating this, right from the grassroots community level up to the highest level of care,” she said.
by FAITH MATETE