A team has recommended an extension of the contract of medical equipment loaned to various county hospitals for a further three years.

The Managed Equipment Service (MES) Contracts Review task force also proposes post-MES planning to ensure the continuation of services, which have seen nearly 7 million patients benefit.

Speaking while handing over its report to Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, taskforce chair George Ooko said decommissioning the equipment or transferring them to respective hospitals could prove counterproductive.

“These options may lead to rampant equipment breakdown and prolonged downtime negating gains already made. The extension is limited to three years and is mainly for maintenance and servicing of MES equipment as defined in the Service Requirements and equipment schedules in the contract,” noted Mr Ooko.

Since its rollout in 2015, the Kes38 billion program has benefited at least 3,848,162 patients from X-ray exposures, 1,797,597 from ultrasound scans while a further 628,821 patients have benefitted from theatre services.

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Proposing the contract extension, the team wants additional dialysis equipment to 15 hospitals with high volume patients to enable them to cope with the increased numbers as well as theatre equipment to optimize services in the MES supported hospitals.

The 15 facilities to benefit include; Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nakuru County Referral Hospital, Kakamega County Referral Hospital, and Othaya National Referral Hospital.

Others are Murang’a County Referral Hospital, Wajir County Referral Hospital, Mandera County Referral Hospital, and Kericho County Referral Hospital.

Kitui County Referral Hospital, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching & Referral Hospital, Moi Voi County Referral Hospital, Malindi County Referral Hospital, Meru Teaching & Referral Hospital and Vihiga County Referral Hospital are also earmarked in the plan.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the government remains committed to transformative devolved healthcare in line with the constitutional right of every Kenyan to access the highest standard of quality healthcare attainable.

Under the MES arrangement, which seeks to provide Kenyans with quality health services regardless of their location in the country, had its equipment manufacturers outsourced to supply, install, train users, and provide maintenance, repair, and replacement services for the specialized medical equipment for the duration of the MES contract.

The project, which was initiated by the national government in 2015, is meant to support the devolution of equitable, accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare with the government equipping two hospitals in each county and four national referral hospitals with outsourced state-of-the-art-medical equipment.

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