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Merali donates Sh100m for KNH day care centre/COURTESY

Kenya

Merali donates Sh100m for KNH day care centre

Merali donates Sh100m for KNH day care centre/COURTESY

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 13 – Kenyatta National Hospital’s (KNH) turnaround and corporate partnership efforts have received a major shot in the arm, with business magnate Naushad Merali extending a Sh100 million donation.

Through the Zarina & Naushad Merali Foundation, the mogul who is also the Executive Chairman of Sameer Group of Companies donated the funds to aid the construction of a Sh278 million fully fledged day care medical centre.

The new centre will offer same-day minor surgical services for walk-in patients who do not require overnight management and will house four main theatres and two minor operating theatres.

According to the hospital’s CEO Richard Lesiyampe, the proposed 24-bed day care centre is expected to help relieve the main referral hospital from the current congestion particularly from general hospital patients who do not require specialised management.

Lesiyampe further explained that the project is part of the ongoing quality of service delivery turnaround strategy recently unveiled by the new Management and Board of Directors’ panel.

As part of the strategy, KNH has unveiled an initiative to reach out to leading local corporate and high net worth individuals in its bid to mobilise resources. As it seeks to expand its resource base beyond government budget allocations, KNH has for the first time in its history, adopted a corporate partnership approach to mobilise much needed resources.

Speaking during a corporate dinner hosted to raise awareness among local captains of industry, Lesiyampe explained that strategic efforts to raise the facility’s quality of service delivery are now underway.

“As we start a new day at Kenyatta National Hospital, we have opted to confidently engage and open the doors to members of the private sector to join us in taking this facility to the next level. Zarina & Naushad Merali Foundation’s Sh100 million donation is indeed a most welcome shot in the arm that will help kick start our ambitious efforts to raise Kenyatta National Hospital’s quality of service delivery within the shortest time possible,” Lesiyampe said.

He added: “Indeed, we have made great strides in reforming and turning around Kenyatta National Hospital. These strides are epitomised by improved service delivery and dedication to duty by Kenyatta National Hospital Staff.”

Alongside Zarina & Naushad Merali Foundation, National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) through CEO Richard Kerich and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) through Chairman Adan Mohamed have moved to donate Sh5 million each respectively. AON Minet Insurance and Nairobi Hospital also donated Sh1.2 million and Sh1 million respectively.

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Established in 1901 with a bed capacity of 40, KNH became a State Corporation in 1987 and is at the apex of the referral system in Kenya’s health sector. Today, KNH has 50 wards, 22 out-patient clinics, 26 theatres (16 specialised and 10 general) and a fully-fledged Accident & Emergency Department. The national referral hospital, provides a variety of specialist services and is the only public hospital equipped with advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment.

On average, KNH attends to more than 2,000 inpatients and 2,500 outpatients daily and facilitates clinical and medical research in collaboration with the University of Nairobi School of Health Sciences and the Kenya Medical Training College.

As part of the ongoing reforms, KNH also recently unveiled a decentralized and robust management structure aimed at raising service delivery efficiencies.

Literally hitting the ground running, Lesiyampe has moved to devolve KNH’s Management structure from a complex 45 departments to only three lean operational directorates each headed by a Deputy Director. Lesiyampe disclosed that the three (3) Deputy Directors are now assisted by nine Senior Assistant Directors handling respective areas of specialisation.

All the three operational directorates have also been mandated to handle all issues relating to their respective Staff performance, training, discipline, welfare, procurement, finance, quality assurance, corruption prevention, occupational health and safety.

The Deputy Directors, will be further assisted in the day to day running of the facility by nine Senior Assistant Directors in charge of Surgical, Medical, Private Wing, Finance & Supply chain and Technical Services. Other Senior Assistant Directors will manage Corporate Support, Special Programmes, Human Resource & Administration, Diagnostics & Health Information and Pharmaceutical & Nutritional Services.

To ensure the decentralised structure runs smoothly, respective Senior Assistant Directors will have staffing officers drawn from Finance, Supply Chain Management, Human Resource and Administration.

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