We must redem the integrity of Hospital
Over the past roughly a year, Moi Teaching and Referal Hospital has been on the spotlight for unnecessarily bad reasons. The director’s appointment saga, death threats to an assistant director, staff protests, tribalism claims, reported patient and journalists’ harassment, police intrusion at the height of the post-election violence and alleged corruption are just some of the evils that have, in a nagging insistence, plagued this beloved hospital. The sooner it puts these ghosts behind it, the better.
Having been a student of the School of Public Health, Moi University, Town Campus (brain child of Prof. Mengech who was the founding dean of the faculty of Health Sciences) for the past four years, I feel I have witnessed how expedient the hospital is to the socio-economic development of the East African region. Walking through the corridors of the hospital to class and room, I had always had reasons to believe it does not deserve all the meddling.
This Teaching and Referal Hospital is not just like any other. As a teaching hospital, it gives life to the School of Medicine (Moi University), KMTC (Eldoret), Baraton University (Nursing School) among other institutions. Due to it, Moi University’s School of Medicine attracts students from all over the world for studies and exchange programmes.
It has some of the world reknown physicians and academicians like Prof. Mengech, Prof. Ayuo, Prof. Kimaiyo, Prof. Esamai, Prof. Chemtai, amongst others. This has in turn made it a centre of medical research. A breathe of the air inside the corridors of the hospital is freshening, not just because of the beautiful short trees within it, but because of the abundance of knowledge in the offices that hang over the wards.
The former Director is the brainchild of another beacon of hope to thousands in Western Kenya and Rift-Valley, AMPATH. The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) is Kenya's most comprehensive initiative to combat HIV.
It is a working model of urban and rural HIV preventive and treatment services in the public sector. AMPATH cares for more than 100,000 HIV-infected adults and children, with nearly one-half of all patients on anti-retroviral drugs, and enrollment into the program rising by 2,000 patients per month.
The story of how a humble cottage hospital started in 1921 can be told in many pages. It saddens to see these events colluding to corrode its reputation. We must strongly turn from this. All stakeholders must rise to the occasion and think of how far things have come and what needs to be done to get things back to normalcy.
We can take advantage of the renewed wind of change and an inspired sense of accountable leadership to inspire people like me who believe that the scandals bedeviling this hospital can be defeated. We must admit that our politics is still young and lacking in directional leadership and stop bringing politics into the management of the hospital.
In a country where health facilities are few and the few ones are under-drugged, under-staffed and under-equipped, we have to support this beauty of an infrastructure. Billions have been invested into building this hospital and donors have shown commitment to increasingly support it. The ghosts are not good signals at all!
The people who this hospital has helped in any way must think of how to make it better. It is no one’s, no community’s and no group’s hospital. It has proven to be the hospital of the world. The world is looking upon us as Kenyans, to clear it of any taint. Let us not disappoint.
Chrispory Juma Ombuya,
(Final-year student of BSc. Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Moi University)
Chrisjuma1@yahoo.com
