It was a relief for residents of Trans Nzoia and neighbouring counties as Trans Nzoia Teaching and Referral Hospital was last Monday, August 1, 2022, officially commissioned with partial operations kicking off.
Speaking during the commissioning of the facility, Governor Patrick Khaemba said the hospital will impact residents of the county and neighbouring counties like West Pokot and Turkana.
When fully equipped, the governor said, the health care facility will be a level 6 flagship project like no other in the region due to its strategic location.
He said it shall serve not only residents of the county but also the neighbouring country, Uganda.
And according to the outgoing county boss, the facility that has taken nine years to be completed will reclaim health services in the county.
“In terms of service delivery and health infrastructure, the county of Trans Nzoia was doing very badly. For example, our maternal mortality ratio at devolution was 186 over 100,000 with only 37% of our mothers delivering in health facilities, two, at devolution the health of our babies was optimal, in 2013 only 53% of the eligible children in Trans Nzoia were fully immunised additionally not a single school in the county was offering complete school health program,” said Khaemba.
The Trans Nzoia Teaching and Referral Hospital has modern facilities and services including a 400-bed capacity, a public mortuary that can accommodate 64 bodies, three state-of-the-art incinerators for medical waste disposal, two dedicated 500 Kva generators, 40 ICU beds and 16 renal dialysis beds.
Partnership with universities
When fully operationalized and equipped, the institution will partner with universities and colleges to help nurture the next generation of healthcare providers.
Khaemba confirmed that the partnership aims to drive community health, health equity, and ultimately patient-centred care citing the University of Eldoret as one of the universities that have been in talks with the facility.
