Minet Kenya, the administrator of the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) Medical Scheme, has enlisted three government hospitals in Nyeri County under the scheme.
In a move aimed at opening up county hospitals for the provision of medical services to teachers, Minet Kenya has enlisted Nyeri County Referral hospital, Karatina General hospital, and Mt. Kenya hospital as the first government hospitals under the scheme within Nyeri County and will be offering outpatient, inpatient, specialized and dental services on direct access.
Since its inception, the panel of medical facilities for the Teachers’ Medical Scheme has predominantly been private and faith-based hospitals.
Speaking during the official commissioning of the medical facilities at Nyeri County government Grounds, Minet Kenya CEO, Mr. Sammy Muthui acknowledged the role of the healthcare sector in assuring the nation’s health, especially during the current pandemic.
“The current healthcare infrastructure in the country has necessitated a need to broaden the panel of service providers for easy accessibility of the facilities as well as access to specialized care,” Mr. Muthui said, adding that, “Public hospitals play an important role in rural areas, forming a massive system of care available to the populace outside major towns hence the need to bring on board more public hospitals.”
“We chose to listen to our teachers who requested to have a wide array of options especially on specialized services and as such, are in talks with other counties to open county hospitals for the provision of medical services to teachers in every County across the country,” Mr. Muthui concluded.
Nyeri Governor, Mutahi Kahiga on his part lauded the efforts made by Minet and called for public-private partnerships within the healthcare ecosystem. He added that his Government was committed to fulfilling the Constitutional provision that guarantees citizens the right of access to the highest attainable standard of health.
“To support the journey that we have started today, the County Government of Nyeri commits to continually strengthen the existing health infrastructure through the expansion of wards, oxygen piping, installation of an oxygen plant; posting of additional health care workers in the right skill-mix and procurement of sufficient medical equipment and supplies,” Governor Kahiga said.
Teachers in Nyeri County now access services in a combination of public, private, and faith-based hospitals including; Chaka Medical Centre, St Patrick’s Nursing Home, St. John Divine Nursing Home, Naromoru Medical Services, Mary Immaculate Hospital Mweiga, Muruguru Medical Clinic Mweiga, Karatina Maternity & Nursing Home, Karatina General Hospital, Tumutumu Mission Hospital, The Avenue Medical & Diagnostic Centre Mukurwe-Ini, Great Batian Optical Limited, Consolata Mathari Hospital, Thuti Medical Clinic, Bliss Medical Centre Nyeri 1 (Jenkim Plaza), Bliss Medical Centre Nyeri 2 (Sunguest Hotel), Mt. Kenya Hospital, Nyeri County Referral Hospital, and Mathingira Medical Centre. Members are encouraged to dial *202*06#to view the list of service providers in their county and across the country.
In July 2020, Minet enlisted an additional 32 medical service providers under the scheme, bringing the total tally to over 500 medical facilities countrywide.
Minet Kenya has since March 2020, put in place comprehensive support programs for teachers including, launching a USSD code (*202*07#) for inquiry. The scheme administrator also committed to covering teachers and their dependants, having laid out initiatives to ensure that teachers have access to prevention, testing, and treatment of COVID-19.
The Teacher’s Medical Scheme covers over 1,036,000 lives which include 332,000 registered teachers and their dependants countrywide.
