Cuban doctors dispatched to counties

Cuban doctors arrive at JKIA on June 7, 2018. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Three Cuban doctors have been posted to Kombewa sub-county hospital and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Kombewa hospital is in Seme while Jaramogi is in Kisumu Central, and is the main referral hospital in western Kenya.

The county health executive, Roseline Obara, said the doctors were set to arrive at the lakeside city from Thursday.

“One of our medical superintendents is in Nairobi to meet the doctors and we will be able to confirm when they arrive here,” said Ms Obara.

According Obara, Kisumu got a neurosurgeon, acute care specialist and a family physician from the 100 specialists from Cuba seconded to the country in a deal between the two nations.

This means Kisumu is one of the few counties that got three doctors as most of the counties got two. The Health ministry had indicated that the distribution of the doctors would be on need basis.

Obara said the neurosurgeon and the acute care specialist, who works in the ICU, will be based at Jaramogi hospital, while the family physician would be at Kombewa.

The residents of Seme said the presence of the Cuban doctor would improve quality of healthcare.

“We hope this will put this hospital on the world map, and that the county department of health will give the hospital enabling conditions for the doctor to perform well,” said Timothy Ouma, a resident of Kombewa.

But Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir has questioned the posting of the doctor at Kombewa, saying the entire county would not benefit from the skills.

"We thought Kisumu County Hospital, which is situated at the centre of the county, would benefit from one doctor," said the MP.