The newly commissioned Nyabondo Trauma Centre is a game changer and a great milestone achieved in the health sector of the country as it set to serve six counties of the Lake Region Belt.
Centrally located within the zone of influence of the road, the trauma centre will provide critical medical services to the local community, improving emergency response times, reducing fatalities and ensuring better access to quality healthcare reach out to Kisumu, Siaya, Homabay, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira counties.
The facility was commissioned by President William Ruto in Nyakach Constituency, Kisumu County during his development tour to Nyanza region on 31st August 2024.
The new ultra-modern trauma facility at St. Joseph Nyabondo Mission Hospital was a Corporate Social Investment (CSI) project by Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA).
The project was developed as part of Ahero – Kisii Road Project under Lot 2 of the Sirari Corridor Accessiblity and Road Safety Improvement Project.
KeNHA planned to establish a Post – crash Trauma and Injury Recovery Centre at Nyabondo Mission Hospital as a complementary initiative.
The Authority acknowledged the inadequate care and poor management of road traffic injuries resulting to numerous fatalities on the project corridor thus aimed at addressing the issue through targeted intervention.
The initiative aligned with one of the key pillars of the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) supported by United Nations aimed at enhancing post-crash care services and improving victim support on the road.
During the launch, President Ruto applauded the European Union for the grant that facilitated the procurement of the trauma equipment for specialized services of trauma care.
He further added that the government of Kenya is open for more partnerships in ensuring better services for the people.
“As a government we appreciate the EU grant for equipping this facility to its required standards to offer specialized care for trauma patients. We are glad that our continued partnership births infrastructural development critical for our economic and social growth as a nation,” emphasized the President.
The Director General KeNHA Eng. Kungu Dungu while addressing the President and his delegation, gave an in-depth description of the scope of work on the CSI project as well as the project sum acknowledging the EU and AFDB as co-financiers in the realization of the projects.
“Your Excellency as Kenha we chose Nyabondo trauma centre as our CSI project to address to fatalities along the corridor road project, but today we celebrate two achievements of a completed standardized rehabilitation of Kisii – Ahero Road which has minimized road carnage and the completed modern trauma facility that is fully equipped to attend to trauma victims and easing the pressure on other hospitals that handled such cases, “the DG elaborated.
Due to its specialized purpose, the trauma centre is equipped with specialized medical equipment designed to treat accident victims.
They include; 5-bed capacity Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 5-bed capacity High Dependency Unit (HDU), two operational theatres, CT scans, MRI machines, X-ray, Ultrasound, 151-bed capacity general wards, a standby generator and an Oxygen Generation Plant.
The CT Scans, MRI machines and X-rays and Ultrasound are vital for imaging needed for proper and efficient diagnosis critical for identifying what care is needed.
The operational theatres are critical for surgical responses in dire situations. Nyabondo Trauma Centre has a 151bed capacity general wards which are divided into 53 male wards, 68 female ward and 30beds for Orthopedic patients with enough staff attending to patients.
Having an on-site Oxygen Generation Plant is an icing on the cake for the trauma centre.
The oxygen generated is stored and distributed throughout the hospital via a centralized pipeline system ensuring it is readily available at points of care like the ICU and HDU which require steady supply of oxygen for patients with trauma cases.
The Oxygen Plant is also cost effective as well as environmentally liable.
A trauma centre requires a continuous supply of power since most machines are electric.
An outage would jeopardize critical medical operations thus the presence of a standby generator at Nyabondo hospital ensures continuous electricity connectivity ideal for healthcare services.
It is permanently installed and automatically activates in case of power outage in a seamless transition of backup.
Nyabondo mission hospital is attached to a medical training institute with student medical practioners.
The trauma center also plays a vital role in the education and training of healthcare professionals.
The facility often serves as training grounds for aspiring physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers.
It offers hands-on experience and exposure to a wide variety of traumatic injuries, allowing healthcare professionals to hone their skills and knowledge in emergency care.
The local community are guaranteed of better training for their children interested in medical practice.
The trauma centre will ease the pressure on Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospitals and Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital which initially were the only options for trauma victims.
This has also reduced on time spent which is critical for emergencies.The hospital will at a percentage address the issue of unemployment in a vast spectrum of jobs both casual and professional. The local community will get chances as hospital staff as cleaners, cooks, caregivers, gardeners, gatekeepers, lecturers, nurses, doctors, surgeons, therapists according to their area of specialty.
Nyabondo Trauma Centre is revolutionizing healthcare services providing specialized medical services and resource to patients suffering from traumatic injuries like falls, motor vehicle collisions, gunshot wounds and major burns who experienced logistic difficulties before its exixtence.
Kenya has a high burden of road crash injuries accounting for 88 deaths per 100,000 populations which is quite overwhelming.
The government is keen in mitigation measures to reduce morbidity and mortality rate on the road, the existence Nyabondo trauma centre is a milestone in achieving this agenda.
The government is partnering with organizations like EU and St. John’s Ambulance to build more trauma centres along major highways.
During the launch of the facility, the President was accompanied by the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Head of EU Delegation to Kenya Ambassador Henriette Geiger, PS Roads Eng. Joseph Mbugua, CS Health Debra Barasa, Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o and other political leaders in the region.
Biko Steve 
polycarp ochieng 
IAN BYRON