This archive report was first published on 17 July 2021.
July 17, 2021
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Murang'a County residents had to rush their critically-ill loved ones to Kiambu or Nairobi for critical care due to the lack of an ICU in the county's Level 5 Hospital. However, this changed in April 2020 when the county government built a 35-bed ICU in a record 21 days.
According to Murang'a County Health Executive Joseph Mbai, the county used its own engineers and architects to design the building, and construction started immediately. The only tender floated for the project was for the supply of materials used in the construction, significantly reducing the cost of the project.
"We used labour contracts, which is allowed by law, because we wanted to build it in record time. We shared the work and gave the fundis the deadline," says Mbai.
The ICU has its own laboratory, nursing station, and pharmacy, and is staffed by five doctors working on a rotational basis and a total of about 30 medics. The ICU serves an average of 10 patients a day and has admitted up to 27 patients at a time.
"Apart from improving access to critical care services for our patients, the tedious journey to Nairobi in search of such services has been cut to zero," says Murang'a Level 5 Hospital Medical Superintendent, Leonard Gikera.
The county government spent Sh25 million of the county health budget on construction of the ICU and directed money given by the national government for Covid-19 mitigation to equip the facility and pay the staff. The total cost of the project was about Sh150 million, significantly lower than the estimated Sh300 million if the project had gone through the tender process.
"This is a clear indicator that government projects can actually be completed within a record time and spend less money if people remove personal interests and bureaucratic processes that hinder development," says Governor Mwangi wa Iria.
