City Affairs

Nairobi's Mlango Kubwa residents to benefit from new Sh22.6 million clinic

Groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the first-ever public clinic in Mlango Kubwa, Mathare Sub-county in Nairobi on May 8, 2024. (Handout)

By Maureen Kinyanjui | Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Valued at Sh22.6 million, the facility will boast a comprehensive array of amenities, including an operational theatre, maternity, and ward wings.

Over 2,500 residents of Mathare's Mlango Kubwa Ward will soon have easy access to healthcare services. This is after Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, on Wednesday, led the groundbreaking ceremony for the ward's inaugural health clinic.

Valued at Sh22.6 million, the facility will boast a comprehensive array of amenities, including an operational theatre, maternity, and ward wings.

Keep reading

During the ceremony, Governor Sakaja stressed his commitment to expanding healthcare infrastructure across the capital. He revealed plans for the establishment of additional health facilities to serve informal settlements, prioritising the health needs of Nairobi's populace.

"We are upgrading our various county health facilities, building new hospitals that we shall be opening across the county to ensure that our people have access to healthcare which I believe is a foundation of a sound health secure and prosperous county," he said.

Mlango Kubwa MCA Susan Makungu emphasised the clinic's significance in enhancing the well-being of the residents, particularly those unable to afford specialised medical care in private facilities. She highlighted the clinic's role in providing immediate and cost-effective healthcare services to the community upon completion.

"Upon completion of this hospital, the residents will be able to get immediate health services here, and cut off additional costs they always incur in private facilities," she said.

The Mlango Kubwa clinic is one of the many projects that are underway after the Governor awarded all 85 ward representatives Sh23 million each for the Ward Development Program —an increase from the previous year's Sh17 million disbursed in the 2022-2023 financial year.

In a bid to bolster healthcare services further, the county administration, in November last year, distributed medical equipment worth Sh58 million to Level two, three, and four hospitals.

Governor Sakaja noted that this initiative reflects his administration's unwavering commitment to delivering on its promise of high-quality healthcare services.

The distributed medical supplies encompassed a wide range of essential equipment, including delivery beds, digital portable X-ray machines, ECG machines, patient monitors, dialysis machines, vaccines, refrigerators, nebulizers, and other vital apparatus aimed at enhancing disease diagnosis and treatment across health facilities.