Turkana government is to take over the running of two hospitals owned and operated by the Kenya Red Cross Society and the International Rescue Committee.
The two facilities are the Natukubenyo health centre in Kalobeyei and the Locherengamor dispensary in Kakuma.
Health executive Joseph Epem met with a delegation from IRC, led by the country director Mohamed El Montassir Hussein, to discuss progress and support from IRC during the transition process.
“We are excited with progress made in handing over the facilities to the county and we will work to ensure the facilities will be sustained to continue operating smoothly,” Epem said.
Joshua Rutto, who is the IRC field coordinator, said Turkana had been working closely with IRC to implement a number of projects. These include water, sanitation and hygiene, primary healthcare, food assistance, disease surveillance and women empowerment.
The county is seeking a partner to support the upgrade of Natukobenyo Level 3 Hospital into a level 4 facility by building inpatient wards and improving the hospital theatre.
Epem said that for sustainability, it would be better for the IRC to handover the facility together with the financial support in order to ensure that both the refugee and host communities feel supported.
“Moving forward we will have a budget and other plans for the two hospitals,” the health executive added. Currently, Turkana county has 13 public hospitals, 19 health centres and 177 dispensaries.
IRC country director Hussein said they would gauge the kind of support to be offered to the county government to ensure the hospitals continue to operate smoothly.
“IRC will work with the county to see how the hospitals can continue to effectively serve the people of Turkana,” he said.
Epem said the two hospitals had already been gazetted as county health facilities.
Hussein reiterated that to ensure a smooth transition, all the challenges and potential obstacles should be discussed and guided by the Ministry of Health guidelines.
“We are seeking guidance in regard to proper procedure for the handover of these facilities,” he shared.
Epem called for registration of the more than 300,000 within Kakuma refugee camps in the Social Health Authority scheme.
