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Mandera County to Get First ICU, Says Governor Roba
MANDERA county has revived 42 health facilities and hired 500 healthworkers to boost services, Governor Ali Roba has said.
Roba said his government inherited 52 health centres, including the Mandera County Hospital, from the now-defunct municipal councils, but only 10 were operational.
The governor said the county is expected to have the first Intensive Care Unit in a month.
It will be located at the Mandera County Hospital.
Operations at the 42 hospitals were grounded by poor infrastructure, insecurity, lack of staff and poor funding.
"We revived operations in all the 52 hospitals and built new ones to increase the number to 60, including delivery rooms with 23 maternity wards," Roba said.
He spoke on Friday during the handing over of the Beyond Zero mobile clinic by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta at Mandera Stadium.
Roba said the government has built 800km murram roads to access hospitals in remote parts.
"We are setting up the ICU in partnership with national government. There are already 16 qualified doctors and we have allocated space for the facility," Roba said.
Roba's administration has upgraded Mandera, Takaba, and Elwak district hospitals to regional referral hospitals.
The improvement in health has restored public confidence in the county leadership.
Residents spoke of improved delivery of services in interior parts of the county.
"Every dispensary has medicine and staff," said resident Khadija Ishmael.
Ishmael said there are no challenges at the dispensaries after repairs of broken down facilities, building of new ones and employment of staff.
"Women used to give birth at home, sometimes bleeding to death, because of lack of medical attention," said Khadija Said, a mother of four at Derkale in Mandera West.
Lack of medicine, equipment and healthworkers, including midwives, compounded the problems further, said Hajira Mohamed from Wargadud, Mandera Central.
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