(Nairobi, Kenya) – Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral, and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) has expanded specialised services in cancer, renal and cardiac care, showing Kenya’s growing ability to provide advanced medical treatment locally.
The development comes as Kenya begins the Beyond 2030 National Conversation at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, bringing together citizens to discuss a development framework towards 2060.
KUTRRH operates as a Level Six teaching, referral and research facility. Its cancer care expansion shows how investment in specialised infrastructure and technology can bring different stages of treatment closer to patients.
Dr. Kerama Onyimbo, Deputy Director of Clinical Services at KUTRRH, said the availability of pathology services had strengthened the hospital’s capacity to manage cancer cases. He said the hospital can now carry out pathology services, particularly histology, which is a major step forward.
Patients requiring further assessment can access specialised imaging, with the hospital providing CT and MRI services alongside other diagnostic facilities. The expansion has also opened opportunities for more specialised cancer management through molecular imaging.
KUTRRH’s Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre provides PET/CT and other nuclear medicine services, supported by a cyclotron and radiopharmacy for producing radiopharmaceuticals used in specialised imaging. The hospital lists PET/CT and CyberKnife among its specialised imaging services.
The technology has helped shift some specialised procedures that previously required patients to travel outside Kenya to local facilities. Dr. Onyimbo said Kenyans used to travel to India for PET scanning.
The hospital has expanded treatment options through technologies such as CyberKnife, which enables highly precise radiotherapy for selected tumours. KUTRRH became the first facility in Sub-Saharan Africa to commission the technology in 2023, with the service intended to increase access to advanced cancer treatment locally.
Beyond cancer care, the hospital has expanded services for other conditions requiring complex treatment. Its renal services include dialysis and kidney transplantation, while cardiac care covers specialised consultations, echocardiography and procedures performed through a catheterisation laboratory.
The expansion of renal care has been accompanied by increased dialysis capacity. In 2023, the hospital said the addition of 20 dialysis machines had increased capacity from 100 sessions per day to more than 200 sessions daily.
Dr. Onyimbo said expanding infrastructure alone is not enough to increase access to specialised care. Hospitals also need to find ways of maximising the use of available equipment and human resources.
At KUTRRH, he cited the use of shifts in radiotherapy as one example of how the hospital seeks to increase equipment use. He said one shift starts at 6 in the morning, a second at around 2 in the afternoon and a third at around 6 in the evening.
Dr. Onyimbo said the approach shows the importance of combining investment with management and innovation to ensure expensive medical equipment serves as many patients as possible. He said productivity per equipment has tripled because of innovation and management decisions.
Such investments have strengthened the role of public referral hospitals in providing services that require specialised equipment and expertise, while creating opportunities for training and medical research.
KUTRRH has eight operating theatres and continues to serve as a teaching, referral and research institution, bringing together specialised clinical services with training and research.
Dr. Onyimbo said the progress at the facility shows the potential of continued investment in Kenya’s health sector. He said having a Level Six hospital deliberately built without any colonial history, with all the equipment available, is testimony that Kenya has enough human resource to build one of the best healthcare systems in the world.