MPs have pledged more funding to complete and equip a cancer centre at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu, as the facility faces mounting pressure to expand specialised cancer care.
The cancer center is expected to be operationalised by February next year.
The hospital currently requires an additional Sh172 million to complete construction of the facility, which is 85 per cent done, and a further Sh1.6 billion to equip it.
Members of the National Assembly’s Health Committee who toured the facility said they will seek additional resources for the completion of the centre.
Committee chairperson and Kilgoris MP Julius Sunkuli said the lawmakers would seek additional resources when they return to Parliament, noting that the centre would serve patients from across the Lake Region and neighbouring areas.
“We have provided a good amount of money towards the project, but we will need to give more funding. Once completed and fully equipped, the centre will serve this region and beyond,” Kilgoris MP Julius Sunkuli who led the team said.
The MPs toured the facility to assess how funds allocated to the hospital had been utilised and to identify outstanding financial and operational needs following its elevation to Level Six status.
Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron said the committee was concerned about congestion at the hospital’s existing oncology unit, where many patients were being attended to in a single room.
He said the situation highlighted the urgency of completing the new facility to improve access to specialised cancer care and ease the burden on patients travelling outside the region for treatment.
“Once that building is completed and fully equipped, the cancer centre will serve the entire Lake Region Economic Bloc, which covers about 15 counties. People currently travel from Kisii, Homa Bay and other areas to seek treatment elsewhere,” Oron said.
He said the committee will push for additional allocations to complete the building and equip it, with a target of having the centre ready to serve patients by January or February.
JOOTRH chief executive officer Dr Clinton Okise said the project had received Sh400 million from Parliament, helping revive construction that had stalled for nearly 10 years.
He said they had presented a request for Sh1.6 billion to equip the centre, in addition to Sh172 million required to complete construction.
Okise said the committee had undertaken to support the hospital in mobilising the additional resources progressively. “We want to assure the people of Kisumu and the wider Nyanza region that we are committed to ensuring that we offer quality care,” he said.
The CEO welcomed the committee’s support towards the hospital’s transition from a county government facility to a national government institution, noting that approximately Sh1.9 billion had been allocated for the process.
He said the hospital had also completed development projects funded through an earlier Sh30 million allocation from the National Assembly.
However, Okise said they still faced staffing and operational challenges as it adjusted to its expanded mandate as a Level Six hospital.
Oron said some personnel had transitioned from the county government, but additional specialised staff were needed to enable the facility to deliver services at its new level.
Sunkuli said Parliament will continue supporting the hospital through funding and oversight to ensure it developed into a modern referral facility capable of serving patients from the wider region.
Hospital board chairman Dr Charles Olang’o Onudi welcomed the committee’s intervention, saying the management had presented the institution’s challenges and was optimistic the promised support will translate into improved services.
