Why county is protesting elevation of key hospital

The county government of Uasin Gishu is unhappy with the elevation of Eldoret-based Moi Teaching and Referral (MTRH) which has meant that the region misses out on conditional grants given to level 5 health facilities to improve services.

In a petition before the Senate, the county administration says elevation of MTRH to level 6 has disadvantaged residents and wishes it would revert to its former status.

The petition notes the county is missing out on the allocation of part of Sh4.3 billion Health Services Conditional grants to counties in the current financial year since it lacks a level 5 hospital. The devolved unit enjoyed the funds when MTRH was a level 5 hospital.

"The county had its level 5 hospital which was MTRH. The said hospital has never received a conditional grant as envisaged by Article 202 (2) and the various Division of Revenue Allocation Acts since its promotion,” reads the petition.

The petition says it is the right of the residents to benefit from such grants that are used to improve the quality of health services has been dealt a blow.

"With the new status given to MTRH, which is also a referral hospital, residents of Uasin Gishu have also been left without a proper hospital to offer emergency, outpatient as well as inpatient services. As a matter of fact, MTRH serves residents of the larger Rift Valley, Western Kenya as well as East and Central Africa, which denies residents of Uasin Gishu the health services they deserve,” the petition says further.

The petition says the criteria the Health ministry used to confer statuses to hospitals has disadvantaged residents and calls for a review.