Kenya Hospital Gets $1M for Kids' ICU Beds

Families in western Kenya will soon have access to lifesaving intensive care for their children without traveling to Nairobi, thanks to a new specialized unit opening this October at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu.

The M-PESA Foundation committed $760,000 to build an eight-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and a nine-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, with the hospital adding nearly $200,000 more. The facility will include consultation rooms, a pharmacy, and full equipment for specialized care.

The new unit addresses a critical gap in Kenya's healthcare system. Most public pediatric ICU beds are concentrated in Nairobi, forcing families from the Lake Region to make difficult journeys when their children need urgent care.

"For a long time, the absence of specialized critical care for newborns and children has been a silent injustice in our health system, and today we are beginning to correct that," said Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o.

The hospital serves nearly 10 million people but has been constrained by limited pediatric and neonatal critical care capacity. Many critically ill children have been treated in adult ICUs or general wards with equipment not designed for their small bodies.

Dr. Lollah Molla, head of the Obama Children's Ward, explained that nearly a third of pediatric deaths in the region happen within the first day of admission. Many of these are preventable with timely access to appropriate intensive care.

The Ripple Effect

The impact extends far beyond Kisumu County. The Lake Region Economic Bloc serves nearly 15 million people across western Kenya, and the hospital regularly receives patients from neighboring countries in East and Central Africa.

The facility will directly address the region's specific disease burden, including severe infections, birth complications, and sickle cell disease, which has a high carrier rate in Kisumu County. Healthcare workers are already in training to ensure the unit becomes operational immediately after construction completes.

Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joseph Ogutu said the investment aims to reduce preventable deaths among mothers, infants, and young children. "This programme sits within our commitment to ensure that we lower, if not completely eliminate, maternal deaths and infant mortality, and give our children a chance to live beyond five years."

Once open, the unit will keep critically ill children closer to home and their families during the most frightening moments of their lives.