Oxygen manufacturing plant to ease health care provision in Kitui

 

Kitui County Government will soon commission an oxygen manufacturing plant for use in the Kitui General Hospital and other health facilities in the county.

The plant will cost Sh15million and will help save the lives of accident victims and mitigate other emergency health procedures.

The facility that will serve the busy Kitui Level 5 Hospital has been mooted to help improve the quality of medical care in the county and in the process save millions of shillings spent annually to procure oxygen.

According to the County Executive in charge of Heath Fred Muli the necessary equipment has already been brought in and the works are set to completed in record time.

He said the County Government, under the stewardship of Julius Malombe has embarked on a major refurbishment of health facilities whose flagship is the major uplift of the General hospital.

Under the project, a Sh60million Outpatient Centre that will include a casualty and emergency centre and host all the departments will be constructed.

Muli also confirmed that the Ikutha Level 4 hospital will be opened to the public in November, once state of the art equipment that includes a radiology machine is installed.

He said the equipment have already been received and are currently being fitted.

The Ikutha hospital, built at a cost of Sh80million, will serve the hitherto marginalised but mineral rich Kitui South Constituency.

Muli said the residents will no longer need to travel for more than 60 kilometres to Kitui Town in search of health facilities once the equipment are operational.

“The hospital will be fully pledged with paediatric, maternity, outpatient and inpatient amenities for the communities around Ikutha and its environs,” he said.

He said Governor Malombe’s strategy in health provision is to first open up areas that had little or no facilities with a view to providing equity as enshrined in the Constitution.

Kitui General Hospital, which has been the major medical facility in the area, is undergoing an facelift.

Among the facilities being put in place is a satellite blood transfusion centre, amenity theatre ward, paediatric block and other facilities that will help improve on health procedures.

The Blood Transfusion Centre is a joint deal with the National Blood Transfusion Centre and will allow the General Hospital undertake blood transfusions. Currently, Patients are referred to Machakos General Hospital.

He however said the General hospital facilities were stretched due to a major rise in population occasioned by the positive effects of devolution.

“The County Government of Kitui has more than 230 sub hospitals spread over the expansive area. We are in the process of equipping all with the necessary staff and equipment to maximise on delivery,” he said.

He said the County Government has set aside Sh2.3billion, which constitutes 25 per cent of the entire County Budget.

“We want to ensure that medical tourism to Nairobi and other counties is minimised because it’s the business of the county to provide adequate medical care,” Muli said.