By John Mugendi
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has restated his commitment to ensuring that the county residents access quality healthcare services conveniently.
Speaking at an event in Ndagani PCEA church hall during an event to mark International Nurses and Midwives Day, the county chief said to achieve universal healthcare, his government launched a program that will see vulnerable households enrolled into the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
He said so far, the initiative has sponsored 10,000 vulnerable households and the target is to double the number by December this year.
The county boss said though 20,000 households is a big number, there is a need for more efforts since the county has approximately 96,000 houseolds.
“The county government is working hard to make sure that all vulnerable households have NHIF cards,” said Governor Njuki.
He noted that his government is having discussions with NHIF management to give accreditation to several health facilities in the region so that the residents can access the insurance services at the hospitals near their homes.
He noted that there are only 29 health facilities, both public, private and faith-based which are accredited by NHIF but the target is to increase them to 66 by the end of this year.
He said despite the economic challenges, he managed to clear pending bill of 154 Million in the health sector and increased health care facilities from 85 to 115 since he took office in 2017.
Njuki said health workers’ deserving promotion will be promoted, the retired replaced and soon more will be employed to work in the upcoming modern outpatient facilities in Chuka County Referral Hospital and Marimanti Sub County Hospital and at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Magutuni Sub County Hospital.
