Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has announced the recruitment of 447 healthcare workers on short-term contracts to ease pressure on public health facilities following a surge in patients seeking free medical services offered by the county in October in honour of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Governor Nassir said the additional staff would complement the existing workforce, which has been overwhelmed by the high number of patients seeking treatment, including some from neighbouring counties.

“We are getting a huge number of people who probably had ailments but felt that they did not wish to get treated. We are now also seeing a surge of people from all over the country coming to our facilities,” said Governor Nassir.

He said health facilities had been instructed to submit requisitions for additional personnel, with the county government set to recruit workers across all cadres.

“With immediate effect, facilities have been given instructions, and they have already sent their requisitions for extra personnel, and the County Government of Mombasa, with immediate effect, is going to take all cadres,” said the governor.

Governor Nassir said the 447 positions would initially be on short-term contracts, which would later be converted to long-term contracts.

He directed the County Public Service Board to contact some candidates who had previously applied for positions rather than placing a new job advertisement.

The governor also assured patients that health facilities had adequate stocks of essential medicines, saying the county had engaged the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority to procure medicines and medical supplies in advance.

“The number of patients that we are currently seeing is four times, or probably a bit more than, what we see on a normal day-to-day basis. I want to thank the media because this could not be possible without your support. This is tremendous,” he said.

To ensure seamless service delivery, health facilities that have extended their operating hours have identified their staffing needs, ranging from clinical officers and nurses to clerks.

Governor Nassir said the county was also seeking additional biometric verification equipment to reduce waiting times for patients seeking services under universal healthcare.

“The second challenge that has been there is that I strongly believe in having universal healthcare, and that means biometric verification equipment. I’m currently in discussion with the Digital Health Authority for them to be able to provide us with more equipment so that the wait time is reduced,” he said.

The governor said the county also has a comprehensive programme to equip laboratories with modern equipment.

Mombasa recently launched modern laboratory equipment worth Sh500 million under the National Equipment Service Programme (NESP), with installation currently ongoing. “Every health facility within Mombasa is going to have that equipment,” Governor Nassir assured.

On Ebola, Governor Nassir said the county was prepared to respond to the highly infectious disease, adding that a quarantine facility had been established, healthcare workers trained, and the necessary personal protective equipment procured.

 by Sadik Hassan