Bungoma, Kericho to get new referral hospitals

Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi on April 29, 2025/ADEN DUALE/X

The Cabinet has approved the construction of two Level VI teaching and referral hospitals in Bungoma and Kericho counties.

The hospitals will be built in partnership with the African Development Bank.

The move supports the government's Universal Health Coverage agenda and aims to boost access to quality healthcare in underserved regions.

The country currently has five referral health facilities, namely Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital; National Spinal Injury Hospital; Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital; and Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Kenyatta National Hospital is the biggest health facility in the country, with a bed capacity of 1,800.

It was established under Legal Notice No.109 of April 6, 1987 and is mandated to receive patients on referral from other hospitals or institutions within or outside Kenya for specialised health care; provide facilities for medical education for the University of Nairobi Medical School, and for research either directly or through other co-operating health institutions; provide facilities for education and training in nursing and other health and allied professions and participate as a national referral hospital in national health planning.

There are over 50 wards, 24 clinics and 28 operating theaters. On average, the hospital provides service to over 2,000 inpatients daily and more than 70,000 admissions annually, and 2,500 outpatients daily and about 600,000 annually.

Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital is a specialised national referral facility for mental health patients that was established in 1904 as a Small Pox isolation Centre and which later became a lunatic asylum.

In 1924, it became Mathari Mental Hospital and later in 1964 it became Mathari Hospital. In 1978, a maximum security unit was opened for law offenders with mental illness.

The hospital is the only public institution in the country offering specialised psychiatric services, forensic services, drug rehabilitation services, and training in psychiatry for doctors and other health workers from both public and private institutions in the region.

It also offers a comprehensive care clinic for HIV patients.