Kabarak University is partnering with international organizations to develop a 500-bed, state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary tertiary hospital to be located in Kabarak, Nakuru County.
In addition, the project scope will comprise of a 250 bed Kabarak University Hospital Nairobi and modernization of 23 mission of hospitals under Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK). The $450-Million medical campus is expected to commence operations in 2020.
Kabarak University Teaching Research and Referral Mission Hospital’s mission is to build an economically sustainable, center of excellence hospital that will deliver internationally accredited standards of care and is set to become a catalyst for strengthening healthcare services in Kenya, as well as furthering advanced research in the region.
Using the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, Kabarak University will design, build, maintain, operate an environmentally sustainable, cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. The Hospital Motto is: WE TREAT WITH GOD`S LOVE.
The project which will be set on 100 hectares of land will also develop medical tourism to Kenya leveraging the specialized treatment the hospital will offer.
Kabarak University has picked General Electric (GE) Healthcare to be the technology provider for the project. GE Healthcare will assist the university with infrastructure development, technology transfer, education and capacity building to support a better health system and patient outcomes. The project will be financed by US based Private Equity Sygec international among other stakeholders.
Farid Fezoua, President and CEO – GE Healthcare Africa said: “GE is honored to have been selected to serve as a technology partner to the Kabarak University Teaching Research & Referral Mission Hospital, bringing healthcare infrastructure modernization with a long-term maintenance to help strengthen primary and referral care.”
He added that this further affirmed GE’s commitment to supporting sustainable healthcare development in Africa through capacity building and skills development that are contributing towards nurturing the continent’s healthcare ecosystem.
The Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) for the project will include EIFFAGE (French based), EGMF (Belgium) and CMB (Italian).
The proposed Kabarak University teaching research & referral mission Hospital will provide advanced types of care and be capable of diagnosing and treating the most complicated cases. It will include specialities in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, cancer, women and child health, stem cell and regenerative medicine, neurology and minimally invasive surgery, with the latest medical equipment such as MRI and CT scanners and nuclear medicine.
“As the first and the only mission referral hospital in the country, we will ensure that Kenyans have access to world-class care locally to reduce medical tourism outside the country,” Dr Henry Kiplagat, The Ag. Vice Chancellor.
Kabarak University will use the hospital to educate and train doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who are equipped not only to provide excellent care but to lead and transform health care institutions and systems to make them work more effectively for the people they serve.
In addition, by providing a working environment that meets the highest standards, the hospital hopes to attract Kenyan health professionals working abroad to return home, while retaining new graduates who might otherwise have left.
At completion, the project will provide a fully furnished and equipped referral mission hospital that has well trained and experienced doctors and nurses, connected to a network of mission hospitals that will allow world class diagnostic and treatment services through a fully equipped university hospital facility.
Further, Kabarak University Teaching Research and Referral Mission Hospital will be an anchor of medical education and a centre of disease control for Africa that will provide the infrastructure for emergency response to the continent. A properly equipped hospital will provide tertiary care and therefore ease the congestion for the more than 40 hospitals in the southern rift valley, lower north rift valley, central parts of Kenya, and the western region of Kenya as well as Eastern Uganda, southern Sudan and Somalia.
In addition, Kabarak University will establish a welfare programme funded by the university and philanthropists that will help patients who cannot afford the charges to get treatment.