Hospitals are healthcare delivery’s first points and are indispensable in fostering healthy populations worldwide.
In particular, mission hospitals in Kenya provide up to 43 per cent of healthcare service delivery to the medium and low-income populations, mostly in rural and ghetto areas.
However, despite their importance, policymakers have yet to focus on their organizational performance, and knowledge of their efficiency and effectiveness is limited and inadequate.
Moreover, they lack the necessary equipment to carry out their roles to the people efficiently.
A strong performance by mission hospitals would boost healthcare service delivery in the country, especially for mothers and children.
According to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2014 KDHS), the country loses at least 362 mothers for every 100,000 newborns. This means that four of every 1,000 babies born are left without a mother. Additionally, it loses 22 newborns for every 1,000 live births.
According to the Sustainable Development Goal (3), the rate is above the global target, which should be less than 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births.
Safaricom Foundation’s commitment to supporting this goal has put in place a strategy that focuses on strengthening the survival and improved health of mothers and newborns during childbirth and early childhood through investment in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programs.
Using a systems-strengthening approach, the organization aims to increase access to maternal, neonatal and child health services by strengthening community capacity to seek healthcare and improving referral systems and healthcare.
These health interventions aim to reduce these statistics through investment in most at-risk communities.
The Mathews Mission Hospital Story
Early this year, the Foundation delivered different medical equipment, including a scanning machine, delivery beds, hospital beds, bed sheets, mattresses, and a thermometer worth 700,000 shillings to Mathews Mission Hospital in Mukuru Kwa Njenga area, Nairobi.
According to Mr Christopher Owiny, a doctor at the facility, the support came in handy when the facility needed it most.
“Just like many other mission hospitals across the country, Mathews Mission Hospital has a vision of giving quality medical services to the patients. Unfortunately, it did not have enough medical equipment to realize this. “
“Modern healthcare is characterized by new disease patterns, advanced technology, unpredictable patient needs and diverse workforce requirements, so we should be ready resourcefully to adopt these changes to meet different patient needs,” Christopher said.
Since the mission hospital received this equipment, it has been working relentlessly to ensure those mothers and children in Mukuru Kwa Njenga area receive quality healthcare services.
“The difference between a government or private hospital and a mission hospital is our mission to serve. Since the mission hospital has been here a long time, an important part of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, it is necessary to provide affordable and quality health care to its people,” Christopher added.
The children served at the hospital often suffer from malnutrition and upper respiratory diseases, according to Mr Christopher.
On the other hand, most women may be diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes. Many mothers also have reproductive issues, and the hospital has recently recorded cervical cancer, a significant health concern.
The area has over 700,000, and many families live in corrugated iron shacks measuring 10 x 10 feet. It is adjacent to the Industrial area. Many of the slum dwellers in Mukuru work as casual labourers in the manufacturing industries close to the slum.
Although the hospital still faces some other challenges like power outages and needing more equipment, the support from Safaricom Foundation has partly helped to overcome the poor service delivery challenge, according to Christopher.
“We would certainly be far ahead if we had reliable electricity since we would serve more people consistently. But we are grateful where we are and look forward to helping more people in time,” he notes.
The expansion plan of the hospital is to build a bigger hospital and move out of its current rentals.
“The hospital has a large number of patients. We want to build a bigger facility that can provide healthcare facilities for the people in Mukuru Kwa Njenga and across the country,” Christopher said.
