Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) has been officially opened by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. The hospital was commissioned President Uhuru Kenyatta at the hospital grounds on the Northern bypass at Kahawa West.
The dream to have a world-class University Hospital in Kenya was birthed in 2008 out of the desire of the then Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University, Prof. Olive M Mugenda to build capacity for high-quality Teaching, Referral and Research in Healthcare for Kenya and the East and Central African region.
The 650 bed hospital includes facilities such as 76 bed Cancer (oncology) Centre, Renal Unit, cardiology, physiotherapy and many other specialisations. The hospital will operate on a purely referral model meant to be for highly specialised and emergency cases. The Hospital is now fully operational in most speciality departments including General Surgery, Cardiology, OBS/Gyn, Neurosurgery and many others.
The launch was also marked by the President’s laying of a foundation stone for an Integrated Molecular imaging Centre (IMIC) and Hospitality Centre. KUTRRH will also offer continuum of cancer care with the establishment of an Integrated Molecular Imaging Cancer diagnostic and Treatment Center. This centre will have state of the art PET/CT and SpECT/CT technologies that will help in early diagnosis and management of Cancer that will be expected to increase the survival of cancer patients, reverse outbound medical tourism and increase inbound medical tourism into Kenya.
The total numbers of patients attended to their Cancer outpatient clinic has risen by about 100 to 150 patients every month, from 14 at inception to 703 patients in August 2020. Patients receive consultation services as well as Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy treatments.The current chemotherapy doses administered per day is about 16 to 20 patients. There are only two (2) LINAC machines (Radiotherapy Treatment Equipment) in Kenya’s public hospitals, i.e. One at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and the other at KUTRRH.
KUTRRH has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 in Kenya. KUTRRH was gazetted as a primary Treatment and Isolation facility on March 2020 and has been playing its role in helping the government’s fight against the pandemic by providing space and expertise to combat the spread of the disease in the country.
More than 500 beds and a 24-Bed ICU were set aside for COVID-19 patients. An additional 25-beds ICU and 20 HDU bed IDU has been put up to beef up capacity for COVID-19 response. In August 2020, the President, speaking at a virtual COVID-19 briefing, announced that the country had begun flattening the curve.
The hospital’s mandate is as follows;
To receive patients on referral from other hospitals or institutions within and outside Kenya and provide them with timely and high-quality specialised healthcare.
To provide facilities for and facilitate medical education
To provide facilities for and facilitate biomedical research directly or with co-operating institutions.
To develop dynamic leadership and managerial skills in health care.
To participate as a referral medical hub in national, regional and global health policy