Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has lamented over theft of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals at various health facilities across the county.
Speaking at the Wajir Afya House during the commissioning of 200 healthcare workers, Abdullahi stated that his administration is also grappling with staff absenteeism at various work stations.
“We are developing an automation plan for our human resources at all health facilities, including the county referral hospital. This plan will also help track medical commodities being distributed to various hospitals across the county as well help in collection our own generated source of revenue,” said Abdullahi.
His administration has allocated 40 per cent of the county’s annual budget to healthcare, with healthcare workers alone consuming Sh2 billion.
The governor attributed staff absenteeism to the presence of ghost workers, which he said has adversely affected service delivery.
“Remember, we inherited a dysfunctional hospital system where staff did not show up for work, the main hospital was filthy, and it was filled with ghost workers,” he added.
He explained that his administration has renovated the Wajir County Referral Hospital which has been earmarked to be upgraded to Level 5 hospital with additional 42 health facilities having been constructed while another 11 renovated.
“The idea behind recruiting these healthcare workers is to staff the facilities that have already been built with government funds, ensuring they provide the intended services. We are also constructing a Level Five hospital, which is progressing visibly, and I am hopeful it will be up and running by December,” he said.
He said his administration is at advanced stage to upgrade eight level three health centers to level four hospitals.
“We have recruited 10 new doctors and 200 additional healthcare workers, including nurses, clinicians, radiologists, public health specialists, nutrition officers among others. These new recruits will be posted to health facilities across the county, bringing our healthcare workforce to over 1,300 people,” he said.
“As you may be aware, we are partnering with the national government on the issue of Community Health Promoters, having provided smart phones and kitted over 1,197 of them.”
Currently, there are 30 medical doctors working at the Wajir County Referral Hospital, including 18 specialists.
At the subcounty levels, there are 6 medical officers, with 16 currently on study leave. Overall, the county now boasts a total of 65 medical doctors.
