President Uhuru Kenyatta commisions 5 new hospitals in Nairobi county Image courtesy of State House Kenya

The 24 hospitals the Nairobi Metropolitan Services has been setting up in different parts of the county will be operating for 24 hours, following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Uhuru Kenyatta issued the directive on Tuesday while commissioning five new health centres in the capital on Tuesday night.

“We discovered that Nairobi hospitals open at 8 am and were closing at 6 pm meaning that if somebody got sick or was in need of medical attention after 6 pm the only medical facility they could access was Kenyatta National Hospital,” Mr Kenyatta said.

According to President Kenyatta, 19 out of the 24 new hospitals are already complete with plans underway to adequately resource for 24-hour operations.

The other hospitals that were commissioned earlier and are fully operational include; Uthiru-Muthua Hospital, Kiamaiko, Kayole-Soweto and Ushirika in Dandora.

The new hospitals are aimed at enhancing access to healthcare for city residents and also help to decongest Kenyatta National Hospital, Mama Lucy, Pumwani and Mbagathi hospitals.