Cases of unavoidable deaths, especially of children and people suffering from common ailments like malaria, were common across public hospitals in Homa Bay County.
Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals would often down their tools demanding a better working environment, thus paralysing health services.
But the situation is changing, with Governor Gladys Wanga making health a key pillar of the county’s development.
Since her swearing in, health services have improved tremendously through introduction of services that were previously not being offered, including dialysis, CT (computed tomography) scan and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
Public hospitals are recording an increased number of admissions as opposed to the past when private hospitals were preferred.
Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital Nursing Services director Carol Adongo says the number of deliveries at the maternity ward has increased from an average of 140 to 350 per month.
The facility is also set to have a new outpatient unit, a cancer centre and a mother and child hospital.
The devolved unit has also started paying monthly stipend to community health promoters as well as enrolling them into the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Ms Judith Odipo, a representative of Nurses Association of Kenya, says hospitals in the county rarely run out of non-pharmaceuticals and the number of referrals to other counties have reduced.
“We used to send patients to buy drugs and syringes. It led to lack of trust in the services we offer,” she says.
Homa Bay County is among the trailblazers in the health sector, with West Pokot, Tharaka-Nithi, Turkana, Kwale, Makueni, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Embu, Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu also doing well.
In Tharaka-Nithi, there is availability of specialist healthcare services, including dialysis. Like Homa Bay, the frequent workers’ strikes witnessed before 2017 due to delayed salaries have ended.
Before the operationalisation of the dialysis unit in Chuka County Referral Hospital in 2018, Mr John Mutegi, a resident of Kiereni area in Chuka Sub-County, used to travel to a private hospital in Nairobi for the dialysis session every week which cost him Sh13,000. In total, he would spend Sh18,000 for the dialysis, travel costs and accommodation.
He said when the services were made available at Chuka County Referral Hospital at only Sh6,000 per session, he only required Sh100 for fare.
“The health sector has greatly improved in our county in the past six years. However, there is still room for improvement because cancer patients are still taken to India for treatment and many of them are dying at home because of the high cost,” said Mr Mutegi.
Kenya National Union of Nurses Tharaka-Nithi County branch secretary-general Fabian Marigu said the welfare of healthcare workers has greatly improved, especially on payment of salariess.
He, however, said delay in promotion of medics is still a challenge and urged Governor Muthomi Njuki to work on it.
In Kirinyaga, two new dispensaries launched by Governor Anne Waiguru have recorded a surging number of patients seeking medical services.
Matandara in Mwea and Riakithiga in Gichugu constituency have served close to 17,000 people, less than four months after opening.
Matandara dispensary, which was opened in May, has so far received about 10,000 patients while Riakithiga has served over 6,500 patients since it opened its doors in July.
The facilities are part of 19 dispensaries completed by the county government in an accelerated programme that involves equipping and operationalisation of the projects.
Ms Margaret Nyambura, a nurse at Matandara dispensary, says, on average, about 90 patients are served every day.
“We are able to detect ailments that were previously not highly detected due to congestion and the high number of people flocking the hospital,” Ms Nyambura said.
Mr Reuben Mugera, a resident of Matandara and a beneficiary of the project, said before the operationalisation of the dispensary, he would spend Sh200 to travel to Kimbimbi Hospital, which is about 4.1 kilometres away, to get medical services.
But now, apart from treatment, the new dispensary has made access to healthcare services more efficient and in a convenient location.
Reporting by George Odiwuor, Alex Njeru and George Munene
