In May 2008, the Ministry of Medical Services identified the envisaged resource centre as one of the flagship projects for realisation of the Kenya Vision 2030 in the Health Sector.
It was to match other centres of excellence in the world in diagnostics and treatment and as such reverse the flow of Kenyan patients to India, South Africa and other medical destinations for specialized treatment as well as make Kenya a regional medical tourism destination.
It was also expected to supplement the universities and middle level medical colleges in training so as to bridge the gap in medical expertise. The Medical Centre of Excellence was envisaged to have a medical centre, training institute, administration building and support facilities with facilities ranging from outpatient services, Accident and Emergency, Physio and Hydrotherapy areas, Cancer treatment centre with 20 MRI machines, 30 operating theatres, 10 X-Ray rooms and nine ultrasound rooms.
Others include, three CT Scan rooms, a 26 bed ICU, 12 bed HDU, six bed special care unit, a dialysis centre, an 815 bed capacity inpatient ward, specialized doctors clinics, fertility centre and a recuperation centre. In October 2008, a Cabinet Memorandum on the project was prepared and presented by the then Minister for Medical Services.
The Memorandum requested the Cabinet to approve establishment and construction of the proposed medical resource centre in Karen, Nairobi. The Cabinet referred the matter to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social, Health and Services Sector for further deliberations. The sub-committee recommended further appraisal and rationalization of the project and to seek Treasury’s concurrence on the matter. Subsequently, the Ministry of Medical Services carried out a consultative meeting on August 18, 2009 to address appraisal and rationalization of the project.
In September 2009, a delegation of Ministry of Medical Services led by the Minister and accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of NHIF, a team of medical experts and technical consultants visited New Delhi, India to identify best practices in various medical institutions. In October, 2009, a task force of medical experts led by Prof. Julius Meme and the then Deputy Director of Medical Services was appointed to prepare a “Rapid Assessment of the Need for a Medical Resource Centre in Kenya”. The task force concluded its report on October 24, 2009.
In its report the task force observed: “The proposed Resource Centre through its medical facility will ease congestion that is witnessed in the two national referral hospitals (Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital) specifically on medical care.
“The resources centre will serve Kenya and the wider Eastern Africa region. The resource centre will also serve as a training centre for Hospital and Health Administrators who are largely left out in the training curriculum of the national training institutions. Presently, there is no institution that trains senior level hospital administrations a gap that has impacted negatively in the provision of quality health care and the skyrocketing costs amongst health care providers. The NHIF resolved to champion the setting up of this Medical Resource Centre modeled along the lines of International Medical Centers in India and other developed Countries.”
The centre of excellence, though still at design stage, has already swallowed Sh1.5 billion.
