KISUMU, Kenya, Jan 15 — Construction of a specialised paediatric and neonatal critical care unit has begun at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) after the M-PESA Foundation committed Sh98 million to the project, with the hospital adding Sh25 million to boost services for critically ill children and newborns.
The unit, to be housed within the hospital’s children’s wards, is expected to significantly expand access to intensive care for patients from Kisumu County, the Lake Region Economic Bloc and neighbouring countries.
Set to be completed by October, the facility will comprise an eight-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), a nine-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), consultation rooms, a pharmacy and other support facilities, all fully equipped for specialised care.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joseph Ogutu said the investment is part of Safaricom’s maternal and child health initiative aimed at reducing preventable deaths among mothers, infants and young children.
Ogutu said the demand for such services at JOOTRH is immense, given that the facility serves a catchment population of nearly 10 million people.
“This programme sits within our commitment to ensure that we lower, if not completely eliminate, maternal deaths and infant mortality, and give our children a chance to live beyond five years,” Ogutu said.
Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o said the project addresses a long-standing gap in Kenya’s public health system, where specialised paediatric and neonatal intensive care has remained scarce outside Nairobi.
Nyong’o noted that most public paediatric ICU beds are concentrated in the capital, forcing families from the Lake Region to travel long distances in search of care.
“For a long time, the absence of specialised critical care for newborns and children has been a silent injustice in our health system, and today we are beginning to correct that,” the governor said.
Major referral centre
He added that the Lake Region Economic Bloc serves a population of nearly 15 million people, yet critically ill children have often been managed in adult intensive care units or general wards using equipment not suited to their needs — a situation that has contributed to preventable deaths, particularly within the first 24 hours of hospital admission.
JOOTRH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Joshua Okise said the hospital’s Sh25 million contribution will ensure the unit is fully functional once construction is complete.
He said the facility is already a major referral centre, receiving patients from across western Kenya and neighbouring countries, but has been constrained by limited paediatric and neonatal critical care capacity.
“This support brings us closer to our vision of making Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital a centre of excellence for specialised care, not just for the Lake Region but for East and Central Africa,” Dr. Okise said.
He added that the hospital has begun training healthcare workers, including specialised nurses and clinicians, to ensure the unit becomes operational immediately after completion.
Dr. Lollah Molla, head of the Obama Children’s Ward, said the new unit will directly respond to the region’s disease burden, including severe infections, birth complications and sickle cell disease, which has a high carrier rate in Kisumu County.
She said many child deaths occur not because conditions are incurable, but because children arrive late or lack access to appropriate intensive care.
“Nearly a third of paediatric deaths in this region happen within the first day of admission, and those are deaths that can be prevented with timely and specialised critical care,” Dr. Molla said.
Once completed, the unit is expected to reduce referrals to Nairobi and ensure critically ill children can access lifesaving care closer to home.
