Mama Lucy Hospital yet to take off six months after opening doors

By Peter Orengo

Six months after starting operations, Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Kayole, Nairobi is yet to begin admitting patients due to lack of basic facilities and alleged procurement scandal.

Envisaged as Nairobi’s second referral hospital and the third in the country, the facility today remains open but severely incapacitated for lack of equipment.

A spot check at the hospital located in Embakasi established that wards are still locked although consultation rooms are frequented by hopeful patients suffering from all kinds of illnesses. Also present are several security personnel, administrators and casual workers who are busy repairing sections of the hospital.

The nurses and the few doctors move from one section to another as they try to attend to the sick. For cases that they are unable to handle, the administration politely refers patients back to Kenyatta National Hospital or Mbagathi District Hospital.

An ambulance is on standby in case a patient becomes critical. A nurse reveals that the hospital is unable to handle large numbers of patients who visit it daily due to lack of medical equipment.

Chinese government

"As you can see, we are trying our best but we don’t have the right facilities to attend to some cases that come here," said the nurse who requests not to be named for fear of reprisal.

Most of the cases involve pregnancies, baby illnesses, accidents, HIV and Aids, cardio-vascular among many others.

The hospital was to have a bed capacity of 112 offering specialised services for both outpatient and in-patient cases. It took 14 months to be completed at a cost of Sh544 million, funded by the Chinese government. Another Sh117 million went towards purchase of medical equipment.

"We know the hospital is operating below capacity with many patients being referred to Mbagathi District Hospital, especially those that involve technical cases. The new steriliser broke down months ago. You cannot call that hospital a referral hospital but a dispensary," said Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union Secretary General Boniface Chitayi.

He says what needs to be done is a thorough audit of the hospital’s procurement process so that the truth is ascertained on how the funds have been used. "It appears there was a hurry to open the facility when it was not even ready. Serious infrastructural assessment ought to have been done before opening it to the public," he added. Perhaps the true test of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital came during this year’s twin medics’ strike where thousands of patients were left stranded at KNH.

change of name

"Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Embakasi was expected to ease pressure on KNH but what happened is that they turned away many patients when staff failed to turn up in defiance of a ministerial directive," said Chitayi.

Dr Pacifica Onyancha, Provincial Director of Medical Services insists that what the hospital needs is further funding so that it can act as a referral hospital.

"You cannot send staff there because what will they be doing without facilities? The Finance ministry should set aside more funds so that the hospital can fully attend to two million residents of Embakasi," said Onyancha.

She accepts that the facility currently has only paediatrics and lately maternity is operational while theatres are not yet operational.

There is also the controversial change of name of the hospital, which was initially to be Embakasi District Hospital. The change of name from Embakasi District Hospital to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Embakasi was published in a gazette notice dated June 20, last year.

The Minister for Medical Services Anyang’ Nyong’o, while officially accepting the facility from Chinese government said the change of name followed a request by Embakasi District Development Committee to honour the First Lady.

"It is notified for public information that the name of Embakasi District Hospital has been changed through a gazette notice to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital," said the Medical Services minister.

paediatric services

The First Lady is yet to visit the hospital, the only facility that bears her name.

Nyong’o said the hospital was to start immediately providing outpatient services, including in-patient paediatric services before end of August last year.

By December last year, the hospital was to offer maternity services and this year it was to offer theatre services.