Uhuru officially opens Margaret Uhuru Children Hospital

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday officiated the opening of the Margaret Uhuru Children Hospital in Nairobi County’s Korogocho slums.

The construction of the four-storey 350-bed hospital, which is set to decongest Kenyatta National Referral Hospital as well as other level 4 hospitals in the city, was completed by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

Among the services that will be offered by the new facility include out-patient, in-patient, maternity, diagnostics, special clinics, intensive care unit services, dialysis, mortuary, accident and emergency services.

The Head-of-State cited the newly-opened hospital as an example of the developments that can be achieved if all leaders worked together for the country’s common good, citing national unity and peace as the most important ingredients for the country’s progress.

“If all of us, as leaders, join hands and concentrate on working together, we will succeed in transforming the lives of Kenyans. A good example is this hospital project that had stalled for close to 30 years but we managed to finish it when the national and county governments together with other leaders joined hands to ensure its completion,” President Kenyatta said.

The hospital is one of the 24 health facilities which President Kenyatta directed NMS Director-General Lt. Gen. Mohamed Badi to build in Nairobi.

President Kenyatta pointed out that since the work on the 24 health facilities started, 18 of them have been completed and have served more than 4 million residents of informal settlements in Nairobi County.

“This shows that the efforts we have put in improving public hospitals are bearing fruit,” President Kenyatta said.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the opening of the hospital is a culmination of the President’s directive to take quality health services closer to citizens through the Universal Health Coverage.

Other speakers at the event that was also attended by local leaders from the area included Lt. Gen. Badi and Nairobi Governor Ann Kananu.

Lt. Gen. Badi thanked President Kenyatta for his support, saying it has ensured NMS implement several projects that have benefitted wananchi especially in the informal settlements.