Sang addresses journalist outside
Kapsabet referral hospital
A walk into Nandi county referral hospital in Kapsabet would leave any patient wondering whether he/she made the right decision in coming to that facility. The past four years have been characterised by uncountable number of unrests by the medical practitioners at the county's top health facility.
A section of the deserted Kapsabet
Referral hospital
A spot check by our team revealed a facility that is crumbling due to the intense pressure owing to the severe understaffing and an overwhelming number of patients that the facility has to deal with on any given day.
The situation isn't made any better by the insufficient supply of drugs at the hospital. Most patients are forced to buy these drugs from private facilities making the cost of treatment unbearable for most of the residents.
When asked what they would want addressed promptly, most Nandi residents felt that the health sector should be given the first priority by the incoming administration. Health being a factor that cuts across the largest cross section of residents should be well funded by the county government.
Being a devolved function, the sector lies squarely at the hands of the county government. Nandi county was among the counties that faced the greatest challenges with this sector. The health workers went on strike severally to protest the poor management of the workforce and the next to impossible working conditions.
Jubilee governor nominee Stephen Sang has pledged to revamp the health sector. During one of his visits to the county referral hospital, he assured the residents that if elected his administration would partner with KEMSA to ensure that medicine is supplied to the hospitals within the county bringing to an end the perennial drug shortage that bedeviled the hospitals.
Sang inspects some of the machines
at the county referral hospital
Nandi residents deserve access to better healthcare as a fundamental right enshrined in the constitution. It is therefore our hope that those charged with ensuring that every member of the county has affordable access to healthcare do their part. Staff the hospitals, make medicine affordable and accessible and take care of the needs of the practitioners to enhance service delivery.
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