The Homa Bay County Government is moving with speed to construct a multi-million accident and emergency unit in a project that will ensure quality healthcare services for the residents. The five-storey building which will include an outpatient block, theatres and offices, will be established at the County Teaching and Referral Hospital to cater for emergencies and accident patients. Speaking during the ground-breaking ceremony, Governor Gladys Wanga said the unit will cost approximately Sh. 200 million and is expected to be completed in the next 18 months. ‘We have a budget of about Sh. 200 million that will be injected into the construction of the accident and emergency centre which will be the face of Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital,’ said the governor. Wanga said their priority as a county executive is to improve health care, adding that they have a plan of constructing a funeral parlor and a mother-and-child hospital to decongest the pediatric ward and the maternity section. ‘We want to put our focus on level two, three and four facilities so that we can address health care at the very basic level to help us free up this facility from serious cases of referrals,’ said Wanga. The Director of Medical Services in the Ministry of Health Dr. Andrew Mulwa said the Ministry will support the County Government in equipping the facilities required and will offer the technical capacity to operationalize the accident and emergency centre. ‘The public health facilities will be competitive to ensure they match the private facilities for Homa Bay citizens to enjoy Universal Health Care Coverage under Wanga’s leadership,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency