Kilifi county government has upgraded the Mtwapa subcounty medical complex to a level 4 facility.
The hospital which is one of the oldest in the country was upgraded after it got a significant facelift aimed at improving service delivery to the wananchi.
As part of the upgrade the hospital has been equipped with 80 beds and operating theatre services.
It also has a resource center and a drug store to ensure constant supply of medicine and medical equipment.
Kilifi County allocated Sh635 million in the financial year 2023-2024 for the supply of pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceuticals.
Governor Gideon Mung’aro said plans are underway to also upgrade health facilities in Kauma and Chonyi subcounties to level four hospitals.
Last week the governor upgraded Marafa hospital to a level 4 facility a move he said was aimed at ensuring services like modern wards, theaters and radiology are taken to the grassroots.
According to Mung'aro, the Mtwapa hospital has a theatre and the fourth patient who was an expectant woman was already undergoing surgery.
Six surgeries were also done in Marafa where they opened a 112-hospital bed capacity.
“The services we are launching here in Mtwapa today will help this area and the larger Kilifi South subcounty. As I have been explaining most time, our plan is to ensure that we enhance the services for every resident of Kilifi,” he said.
He said they will soon begin the expansion of Chasimba hospital in Chonyi subcounty and Mbudzi hospital in Kauma subcounty.
Mung’aro said the Mtwapa hospital services give hope to residents who have suffered for long looking for services in Mombasa.
According to the governor, they are planning to register 20,000 needy people to NHIF to enable them get the services. So far only 8,000 have already been registered.
The governor said that, the county will begin paying community health workers as a way of appreciating their work.
The county will also begin the construction of an emergency wing in Mtwapa next month to deal with emergency cases.
“We are going to expand this facility more where Radiology and X-ray services will be available,” he said.
Also present during the launch was Kemsa director of commercial services Jackline Manyier, Kilifi county CEC member for health Peter Mwarogo, Chief officer of health David Mulewa, MCAs and other county and national government officials.
Manyier said as Kemsa they were happy with the partnership and the good relationship they they have with the governor’s administration.
She said Kilifi was so far the county leading with the highest number of drugs procured from Kemsa with a whooping Sh635 million.
County CEC Member for Health Peter Mwarogo said Mtwapa health facility begun as a health post over 90 years ago and rose to the ranks it is now.
He said due to the ever increasing population there has always been a need to upgrade it assuring the residents that the standards of services at the facility will be maintained even as expansion goes on.
“This hospital has a history of high standard of services, when I worked in Nairobi, we used to dispatch teams to Kilifi to monitor the high standards that were being exhibited. We want to assure you that the high standards shall be maintained even the private hospitals around should begin to close down as they will not match those of this hospital,” she said.
Chief Officer for Health Dr. David Mulewa said surgeries will now be done at the Mtwapa hospital unlike before when patients used to travel to Kilifi or Mombasa.
“We would like to assure you that we shall maintain these standards that have been set to ensure services are delivered to the people effectively,” he said.