Nairobi: Vihiga governor Dr. Wilber Ottichilo has assured residents that they are working to resolve challenges at the Vihiga County Referral Hospital, following complaints over lack of medical equipment. Speaking on a local TV morning show, Dr. Ottichilo said the only major issue currently facing the facility was breakdown of their CT scan machine.
According to Kenya News Agency, the equipment was supplied under the Medical Equipment Service (MES) program by the national government, but maintenance support was withdrawn when the lease project lapsed in 2022. 'The CT scan is down because when the MES program ended, the maintenance services were also withdrawn. Servicing the machine is very expensive, but I have engaged the suppliers and they have agreed to resume providing the service,' the governor explained.
The MES project, launched in 2015, was meant to boost specialized healthcare in counties through a public-private partnership, where equipment was leased and maintained by contractors, with counties paying annual fees through the Ministry of Health. However, the program ended without capacity building at the local level. 'The MES program never trained our people. We have learnt the hard way, because once the project ended, we were left helpless,' Dr. Ottichilo lamented.
However, to address this gap, the county plans to recruit biomedical engineers and other specialists to handle maintenance of critical machines locally. The governor also revealed that more dialysis machines will be delivered to the county soon, underscoring the need for technical staff to support their operation.
Despite the setback with the CT scan, Dr. Ottichilo maintained that most other essential equipment at the referral hospital remain functional. These remarks come at a time when residents have raised growing concerns over the state of healthcare in the county.