Patients and residents in Kericho and Uasin Gishu counties have welcomed improvements in public healthcare services, citing better access to equipment, medicines, diagnostic services and specialised treatment.
For patients who have endured years of illness, the changes are offering renewed hope that more Kenyans will receive timely treatment closer to home and avoid the cost and difficulties associated with travelling long distances for medical care.
Among them is Bernard Juma, a boda boda rider from Uasin Gishu who has been undergoing treatment for more than 10 years after being diagnosed with malignant teratoma in 2014.
Juma continues to receive care at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, where his long treatment journey has tested his resilience but not his optimism about the future.
He said ongoing improvements in the health sector under the Social Health Authority (SHA) are beginning to benefit patients through better support, including the availability of machines, medicine and improved hospital systems.
For long-term patients such as Juma, he said, the improvements could mean more people accessing treatment on time and fewer lives being lost because of delayed or inaccessible care.
However, Juma said patients still face challenges, including delays in receiving message confirmations and long queues at health facilities.
He said the ongoing expansion at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital gives him hope that some of these challenges will ease as the facility gains more space, beds and specialists.
With expanded capacity and more specialists, Juma believes patients requiring advanced treatment will have an easier time accessing care.
He also expressed optimism about the future of healthcare in Kenya, saying increased investment in treatment resources could reduce the need for patients to travel outside the country in search of specialised medical care.
Juma said he remains hopeful because of the plans the government is currently implementing in the health sector.
In Kericho, residents have similarly reported improvements in services at Kericho Referral Hospital.
Catherine Nafula, a resident of Kericho, said she has received treatment at the facility for a long time and has witnessed changes in the quality of services offered.
She said patients are now attended to better, examined properly and treated more effectively, while laboratory services have also improved because more tests are now available.
Despite the progress, Nafula said she would like the hospital to expand its testing capacity to include services such as cancer screening and tests for diseases including cholera.
She said such services would enable patients to know their health conditions early and receive treatment in good time.
Nafula also called for more qualified doctors to be deployed to the facility to strengthen patient care.
She recalled that admission services were previously poor, with some patients left without adequate attention. From her experience, however, the hospital is now improving, with better services and patient care moving in the right direction.
Rose Kerubo, who has lived in Kericho since 2010, also said Kericho Level 5 Hospital has made significant progress in the services it offers patients.
Kerubo said patients are now receiving better treatment and pointed to the availability of a CT scan machine as one of the major improvements.
She said patients previously had to be referred to other facilities to access CT scan services, but the machine is now available at the hospital.
Going forward, Kerubo said she hopes doctors and other health workers will remain active, focused and responsive to patients seeking treatment.
She also called for the addition of more medical machines so that patients can access the services they need without being referred elsewhere.
Sosiot maternity project raises hopes
Residents are also looking forward to the completion of the Sosiot maternity project, which they say will ease pressure on existing facilities and improve maternal healthcare in the area.
Richard Mutai, Chairman of Bunge la Mwananchi in Kericho, said residents were grateful to the government for the project, which he said would provide more space for mothers to access maternity services once completed.
Mutai said the facility would help reduce pressure on existing hospitals and make it easier for mothers to receive care without unnecessary strain.
He also called for the provision of additional rooms where mothers can rest after giving birth, regain their strength and leave the facility safely.
Before the project, Mutai said mothers in Kericho faced limited maternity space, inadequate beds and overcrowding at existing facilities.
He said some women were forced to seek delivery services in private hospitals, where the cost was too high for many families.
Residents await cancer centre
Peter, a resident of Kericho, said health services at Kericho Referral Hospital have also improved over time, particularly after the facility was upgraded.
He said diagnostic services such as scanning are now available and that referral services have also improved compared with the past.
However, Peter said residents are now looking to the next phase of development, particularly the completion of the cancer centre that had been promised.
He said the centre would enable residents to access cancer services closer to home once completed.
Initially, Peter said Kericho lacked services such as scanning, forcing patients to rely more heavily on referrals.
He said the progress made so far was encouraging, but residents remained keen to see the cancer centre completed so that the range of services available locally could be expanded.
Kericho emerging as South Rift referral hub
Dr. Rotich Joseph, a resident of Kericho, described Kericho Referral Hospital as one of the best hospitals serving the South Rift, saying it now attends to thousands of patients who previously would have been referred elsewhere.
He cited the availability of CT scans and dialysis services as major improvements that have reduced referrals to Eldoret and Tenwek and enabled patients to receive treatment closer to home.
According to Dr Rotich, modern facilities provided by the national government have improved the examination and diagnosis of patients, allowing doctors to identify health problems more accurately and provide more effective treatment.
He said the hospital now has more medical machines and congestion has reduced, while patients who were previously sent outside Kericho can increasingly be treated within the county.
Dr Rotich, however, said further investment would strengthen the facility.
He called for the government to continue equipping Kericho Referral Hospital, including providing MRI machines and training more technicians capable of operating modern medical equipment.
With sustained investment, he said, the facility could become even stronger over the next 10 years.
Dr Rotich recalled that in the past, inadequate examination capacity and limited medical services forced many patients to travel long distances in search of treatment.
He said patients who could not afford the cost of referrals were particularly vulnerable, with some losing their lives because they could not access the necessary care.
The experiences of patients and residents point to a health system that is gradually expanding its diagnostic and treatment capacity, while also highlighting the need for continued investment in equipment, specialists, laboratory services, maternity facilities and specialised treatment centres.
For patients such as Juma, the changes are not simply about new equipment or expanded buildings. They represent the possibility of receiving timely treatment closer to home and a healthcare system that can offer better support to people facing long-term medical challenges.
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