By Jabali Media
The Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) management on Friday, January 31, 2025 launched a 5-year strategic plan, centered on patient approach to healthcare.
The 2024-2009 strategic plan majorly focuses on among others, expanding specialized services and community engagement, while addressing leadership and governance, operational excellence, and financial sustainability issues.
Addressing stakeholders during the launch, Dr. Richard Lesiyampe, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said they will effectively implement the plan for better healthcare service delivery to the people of Kisumu and beyond.
“Many organizations face the challenge of implementing their strategic plans, but I want to assure you that this one will be implemented by at least 90%,” he said, drawing inspiration from the work he accomplished when he occupied a similar position at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi, during the reign of Kenya’s third President, the late Mwai Kibaki.
Expanding specialized services, the CEO said, will be achieved through outreach health centers like Kosawo Hospital for primary care, Holo Hospital for mental wellness, and Victoria Annex for sickle cell care.
Earlier, Kisumu County Deputy Governor Dr Mathew Owili opened the newly renovated Accident and Emergency (E&A) unit, before commissioning 7 state of the art HDF dialysis machines at the renal centre, courtesy of partnership with Braun Kenya and Triple Pivotals.
He said JOOTRH is now better placed to offer enhanced dialysis services.
“JOOTRH can now offer enhanced dialysis treatment that improves patient outcomes and reduces the burden of those seeking specialized care.”
Dr Gregory Ganda, Chief Executive Committee Member (CECM) for health said the new HDF machines installed at the facility have been found to make people live longer.
“People with renal disease have a lifespan so we try to improve that lifespan and HDF machines have been shown to improve the number of years that these people can live,” he said.
“The second thing we have done is that we have trained a urologist, now we have two urologists here. And that means then that the transplant program is on course. We are hoping now that JOOTRH should be able to take up transplants having the requisite consults to be able to do that,” added the CECM.
The initiatives came in the middle of the ongoing quarterly neurosurgery camp at JOOTRH. The camp started on January 27, and will end on February 05, headlined by surgeries to the spine and brain.
Dr Owuor addressing the press on the ongoing neurosurgery camp. Photo/Courtesy
Dr Victor Owuor, one of the surgeons in charge of the camp said tremendous milestones have been realized since they started the project in 2017.
“The joy is that now I can actually watch a lot of the surgeries and I don’t have to do every single surgery because we trained some of the orthopedic surgeons here, and that is the goal,” said the US based surgeon.
JOOTRH reportedly serves over 10 million people across 14 Lake Region Economic Block (LREB) counties.