By Anderson Ojwang
The elevation of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) to a national teaching and referral facility and its establishment as a state corporation is a milestone in repositioning Kisumu as a fast-growing city and an investment hub.
This move makes the hospital the first health corporation in Western Kenya, joining the league of Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, and the National Spinal Injury Referral Hospital.
National Referral Hospitals in Kenya are Level 6 facilities that act as referral points for county hospitals and are the highest referral category in the public healthcare system.
The objective of the Referral Hospital shall be—
(a) to provide highly specialised services, including—
(i) specialised psychiatry services;
(ii) forensic psychiatry services;
(iii) child and adolescent mental health services; and
(iv) receiving and managing referrals of persons with mental disorders from other facilities.
A State Corporation is a corporate body established under Section 3 of the State Corporations Act, Cap 446, or by an Act of Parliament, or under the Companies Act, Cap 486, where the Government controls the majority or all of the shares. Further, a subsidiary of a state corporation is also considered a state corporation.
Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o welcomed the move, saying it will be a game-changer in health service delivery in the region.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the President and the Cabinet as well for making Jaramogi Oginga Odinga a national corporation.
With its new status, JOOTRH will receive adequate resources to continue expanding its service delivery in the Lake Region and beyond.
My sincere gratitude to Richard Lesiyampe, the Chief Executive, and his staff as well as the Board of Management for undertaking various reforms that have improved service delivery in the institution exponentially.
My government will continue to support and nurture JOOTRH in capacity building needed for effective service delivery.
The decision is a big boost to healthcare services for the public. The new status increases JOOTRH’s capacity to serve more patients more efficiently because it will receive more resources.
It is also a big relief to the County Government because it will no longer shoulder its financial burden, especially on staff wages. It will help the County substantially reduce its wage bill,” he said.
A medic and don, Prof. Obondi Otieno, said the move was in line with the institution’s strategic plan and would help improve health services in Western Kenya.
“In JOOTRH’s strategic plan as a Centre of Excellence for East, Central, and Southern Africa, it has been our dream all along to have the institution recognised as a corporation, and this is a milestone for the region.
In the institution, there will be a teaching hospital and research centre, and we should no longer have excuses for underperformance.
We will have all shades of expertise in clinical services, and therefore, there should be no excuse for unnecessary referrals to MTRH or KNH unless there is a valid explanation for a lack of resources or qualified human resources.
Again, we will have to source scholarships for willing employees to further their studies, and the National Government will take over the cost of running the hospital and human resource recruitment,” he said.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching & Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) has been in existence for more than a century, having been established in the early 1900s to cater for the health needs of workers in the then port town of Kisumu.
Since then, it has grown to become the referral hospital serving county, sub-county, and private hospitals in more than 10 counties in the Western Kenya region, with a population of more than 10 million people.
The inception of JOOTRH was highly influenced by the high presence of malaria and other diseases in what was then Port Florence, which necessitated the creation of a facility to cater for the black population.
