A new ward with a 96-bed capacity has been opened at the Busia County Referral Hospital.
Governor Paul Otuoma said the ward will serve both Kenyans and Ugandans..
The surgical ward will expand healthcare services.
Otuoma said a similar facility with a 100-bed capacity is being planned.
The governor said the county is seeking to source Sh200 million for the new facility.
“This new ward has has helped us solve some of our issues by almost 30 percent,” Otuoma said Thursday.
“When we make the right decisions, when we are focused and when we put resources where they are supposed to be put, we solve many problems.”
The new facility was constructed by engineers from the Kenya Defence Forces.
The architectural standards are international, Otuoma said.
He said heath will remain one of his flagship projects running to 2027 when he completes his first term.
HOSPITAL RECLASSIFICATION
The county chief said his administration will review how hospitals were classified and said some were over-rating themselves..
He said Busia County Referral Hospital, going by its services, does not qualify to be a Level 5 hospital.
Subcounty hospitals, currently classified as Level 4, do not qualify to be classified so high because of the nature of the services they offer, and those they don't, the governor said.
“Classification alone cannot make a facility. In fact, sometime get I baffled by those who allow this kind of classifications to go on," the governor said.
“Classifications signify a facility has fulfilled certain requirements so you can be admitted to an appropriate facility that gives you the right level of treatment, not a level that's too low or too high with treatment you don't need," he said.
The county boss said hospitals should not promote themselves as Level 5 when they don't have Level 5 care.
“You cannot come and tell people that you are Level 5 yet you are not Level 5 because you will be telling people to come and seek for services which you don’t have.”
POLYTEHCNIC RELOCATION
The governor said plans are ripe for the relocation of Busia Polytechnic to a different site. It is on land that will be used by the referral hospital.
Part of the land will be accommodate the proposed Sh200 million building.
The structure will accommodate a sickle cell treatment facility and a section that will attend to mental issues.
“We are going to change the way we do things, even if it means to declassify this hospital (BCRH) so we aspire to be where we are supposed to be and give ourselves timelines to do that,” the former Funyula MP said.
The county chief was accompanied by acting county commissioner Kipchumba Ruto, the chairperson of the county Assembly committee on Health and Sanitation Dalmas Onjole and acting secretary Elijah Mwaro.
Also present were chief executives Olung’a Ekweny (Sports and Culture), Beatrice Kakholi (Health and Sanitation), Olakacuna Omuse (Trade and Industry), Andrew Nakitare (Public Service), Pamela Awori (Education and Vocational Training) and nominated MCA Rose Amoit.
The new ward was constructed through collaboration of the national government through the Department of Defense and the Busia government.