Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu on Monday visited the Kiambu Level Five Hospital to assess the situation of the New Born Unit (NBU) following revelations that the facility has a shortage of incubators.
During the visit, the county boss said that he has welcomed a directive from health Cabinet Secretary Sicily to initiate a probe by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) into the deaths of 60 babies at the facility within a period of two months.
Waititu also said that he is confident the investigations will help the county government ensure better service delivery at the facility.
The governor, who has been defending the management of the facility against negligence claims, revealed that his administration has embarked on the process of hiring 100 nurses and 25 doctors to ensure smooth service delivery.
He also noted that his government hired 40 doctors and 150 nurses in the past three months, a move he said is a clear indicator that he is committed to providing residents with the best services.
The governor further appealed to the national government to accord him financial support as he seeks to improve the state of the NBU in order to reduce the number of deaths at the health facility in the coming days.
“To help alleviate the congestion, we are in the process of hiring 100 nurses and 25 doctors, having hired 150 nurses and 40 doctors less than three months ago. Already, 15 more nurses have already moved to the NBU even as we call on the National Government to help us expand and equip the New Born Unit, which is currently overstretched and unable to handle the referrals coming from private and faith-based hospitals within the Kiambu and other surrounding counties,” he said through his official Facebook account.
The delivery of services at the facility has been a subject of concern after past revelations that patients were sharing beds because of the acute shortage of equipment being experienced at the hospital.
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