Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has announced plans to take over operations of Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital from the national government.
The hospital which was commissioned last year by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta was placed under the Kenyatta National Hospital.
“We have started the process to initiate Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital from the national government which will then be fully equipped to offer adequate health services,” Sakaja said on Thursday.
He was speaking during the handover of the Nairobi City County Health Reforms Taskforce report, January 2023.
In its recommendations, the taskforce urged Sakaja to fully equip and operationalise Mama Margaret as a general hospital.
The facility which was previously known as Mathare-Korogocho Level 5 Hospital has a bed capacity of 350 and offers specialised healthcare services for free or at subsidised rates.
The hospital has in-patient wards, a 24-hour pharmacy, a kidney dialysis centre, an intensive care unit, a burns unit and theatres.
It also offers renal dialysis, radiology services, tuberculosis management, mortuary and autopsy services, pathology, chemotherapy, and forensic services.
Nairobi Metropolitan Service upgraded the facility at a cost of Sh400 million.
The five-storey hospital was meant to reduce the patient load at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, which serves more than 2.1 million people in Eastlands.
Mama Lucy is currently grappling with bed occupancy of 135 per cent as it attends to 25,000 patients every month in the outpatient department and another 2,000 patients every month in the in-patient department.