Kirinyaga County government has
commissioned a new modern kitchen, a laundry unit and a modern incinerator to
increase efficiency and to enhance the hygienic standards at Kerugoya County
Referral Hospital.
hospital is part of the health sector reforms that the county government is
undertaking to enhance health care service delivery in the county. The projects
will also go a long way in enhancing cleanliness at the facility which is one
of the measures to curb the spread of corona virus.
building that also hosts a laundry unit. Norman Njeru, Kerugoya County Referral
Hospital Manager has said that the kitchen will enhance the capacity to cater
for the growing needs of patients at the hospital. The hospital provides food
for inpatients as well as dialysis patients. He said that the kitchen can
handle food for around 400 people at one given time though the hospital
currently cooks for around 200 patients daily.
of the new kitchen, the hospital was using a makeshift kitchen since the one
that existed before was demolished to give way to the new hospital complex
coming up at the facility.
space in the cooking island, stores, a bigger cold-room, stand-alone washing
sinks, two boilers(electric and gas)a brat fan, four hot plate cooker with an oven,
four gas cookers and a stock pot stove that is gas powered. There is also a fridge parking, a bulk store
and a daily ration store. There is also a vegetable processor and universal mixer
as well as a hooded dishwasher. The serving area is big and fully separated
from the cooking area.
“Unlike in the previous kitchen set-up,
the semi mechanization in the new kitchen will increase output while safety in
the kitchen has been increased by the plan of the building and also the
installation of fire extinguishers. The
kitchen is also more orderly since there’s adequate storing space for utensils
and foodstuff” said the manager.
contributed to high hygienic standards at the hospital since it is fitted with
modern washing machine and driers which ensures that patients use clean linen
at all times.
will enhance the hospital’s hazardous waste management and go a long way in
reduction of environmental pollution.
incinerator will be used for disposal of hazardous and medical infectious waste
from the hospital phasing out the old methods of disposing such wastes.
to cater for all the waste generated at the hospital and will still accommodate
more as the hospital expands to attain Level Five status.
harmful fumes being emitted into the environment since all the fumes will be
treated in the incinerator chambers”, said Norman noting that an incinerator
also ensures that pathogens and toxins from hazardous wastes are destroyed.
kilograms of waste per hour and has a burning temperature of 1200 degrees
Celsius.
Covid-19 cases in the country continue to rise and hence, the county can
adequately dispose any corona virus related medical wastes such as needles,
swabs and PPEs among others.
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