Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital
Continued Devotion to East African HealthcareWriter: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Eddie ClintonAs the largest private hospital in East and Central Africa dedicated exclusively to the care of children, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital is continuing on its quest to provide award-winning, world-class healthcare to Kenya’s children by increasing its geographical coverage in order to have a greater physical presence outside Nairobi; which started with the opening of its first outpatient clinic in Mombasa last year.Rapid urbanisation and decentralisation are dictating the Hospital’s expansion plans in line with the changing needs of Kenya’s growing economy. Having successfully maintained its position as one of the biggest contributors to child wellbeing in the country for more than 65 years, Gertrude’s was declared debt-free at the end of the last financial year which has allowed the organisation to free-up more cash to buy new equipment and continue modernising its facilities to provide even better patient care.“We have been able to pay off all of our financial commitments, so we can now allocate more spending to the expansion of our clinics, improve the medical training available and provide essential medical equipment in the hospital,” comments Gordon Otieno Odundo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gertrude’s.Healthy occupancyTending to more than 300,000 patients each year, Odundo is acutely aware of the number of people in more rural areas of Kenya who are unable to get to the Hospital in their time of need. He explains: “In a country where the population stands at 44 million, we can only reach so many with one facility. Therefore, we are now developing…
Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital 2014
Unparalleled Specialists in Children’s healthcare A year on and Gerties continues its adventure, expanding its ever-growing reach across Kenya with the advent of outpatient clinics Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Serge Utting Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital is the largest hospital in East and Central Africa that is dedicated exclusively to the care of children. For over 65 years, the hospital has provided high standards of paediatric care for children right from birth to 21 years of age. CEO Gordon Odundo’s care and devotion to providing the best service possible to the country’s children is mirrored in the unparalleled level of care the hospital provides. I previously spoke to Gordon in issue 11 of Africa Outlook and in just twelve short months, the organisation has derived great success from the opening of the Chandaria Medical Centre (opened in November 2013), and its new ventures into developing outpatient clinics across the country. “As a result of the rise in bed occupancy numbers that we have seen this year – from 60 to 71 percent – we have diversified our offering by increasing our number of outpatient clinics, which means that ultimately, we can reach more people,” says the CEO. “The growth in bed occupancy numbers can be attributed to the opening of a surgical ward in the Chandaria wing. We set this up to iron out the processes involved in getting our patients prepped for theatre, and our doctors and nurses are very happy with the efficiencies this brings to the hospital.” The hospital, which is affectionately nicknamed ‘Gerties’,…
Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital
Gertie's new adventure The devoted CEO of Gertrude's Children's Hospital talks about how they put patients at the forefront of what they do. Writer Emily Jarvis Project manager Eddie Clinton Gertrude's Children's Hospital was founded in 1947, with the donation of land by Colonel Ewart Grogan, pioneer extraordinaire, in memory of his beloved wife, Gertrude Edith. Now fronted by CEO Gordon Odundo, the hospital continues to expand its services. As the years have passed, Gertrude's Children's Hospital has become more and more of a 'giving' hospital. it has won prestigious awards for its Corporate social responsibility (CSR). Gertrude's from the beginning was and will always be a simple hospital: it now has completed the full circle by becoming a place of hope for sick children who have no expectations elsewhere. Mr Odundo explains: "People all over the world find it difficult to find a model that can sustain children's health because children are dependent on adults to pay for their upkeep, they don't have an income, so the health system doesn't readily support children's hospitals as financial and viable projects." Gertrude's use reliable local suppliers from Kenya of the all important hospital equipment, who deal with reputable brands, as Odundo justifies: "By using suppliers that have the distributorship and the sole rights to their equipment and medicines, we are able to find maintenance contracts and equipment to ensure our supplies will be on time. We avoid difficulties with passing things through the port, meaning our items are delivered to us on site accordingly." The Benefits of…
