President William Ruto’s administration is seeking to live to its promise of making healthcare accessible and cheap to all Kenyans through digitisation of healthcare services.
Top government officials toured the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital on to assess and learn new paperless technologies, including that of Social Health Insurance (SHA); the national healthcare insurance.
The bid by management of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital to position the facility into a world class medical and research centre in western Kenya took off when the facility digitized its system completely with no paperwork in its patient centred services.
On Monday, a delegation of Principal Secretaries commended the facility for its successful transition to a fully paperless, digitised healthcare system, citing it as a leading example of patient-centred service delivery in public health facilities.
The visit was led by Dr. Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Medical Services. Other members of the delegation included Carren Achieng Ageng’o, Principal Secretary for Children Welfare Services; Regina Akoth Ombam, Principal Secretary for Trade; and Fikirini Jacobs, Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and the Creative Economy.
During the tour, the government’s top officials observed patient flow at the Accident and Emergency Department, where manual registers have been replaced by an integrated digital process that supports seamless care from registration to treatment.
The team also reviewed the implementation of the AfyaKE digital system, which now links clinical, laboratory, pharmacy, and records services. Clinicians use tablets to transmit orders directly to service points, significantly reducing patient movement, waiting times, and errors associated with paper-based workflows.
JOOTRH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Joshua Clinton Okise confirmed that the hospital is now fully paperless, with patient records digitised and accessible in real time. He noted that the system has addressed long-standing challenges related to lost files while improving coordination across departments and satellite facilities, including the Victoria Annex and Prime Acre Amenity Wing.
Dr. Oluga took the moment to showcase the system’s real-time dashboards, which enable leadership to monitor patient volumes, service utilisation, prescriptions, and laboratory and pharmacy outputs.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) last year approved a new staff establishment for the hospital, paving the way for an expanded workforce of 1,805 employees as the facility transitions into a Level Six referral hospital.
According to the approved structure, 1,545 positions, about 86 per cent of the total workforce, will be technical roles, while 260 positions, representing 14 per cent, will cover administrative and shared services.
The approval marked a major boost for the hospital, which currently has about 1,200 staff. Once fully implemented, the expanded workforce is expected to strengthen service delivery and enhance JOOTRH’s capacity to offer specialized care.
The new staff establishment forms part of a package of human resource instruments handed over by Kisumu County Public Service Board Chairperson Dr James Obondi to the chair of the JOOTRH Non-Executive Board, Dr Olango Onudi.
The approved instruments include a 14-tier grading system, career progression guidelines, and a human resource policies and procedures manual tailored specifically for the hospital.
JOOTRH’s revised organisational framework is anchored on five directorates which includes Clinical Services, Integrated Health Services, Nursing Services, Training and Research, and Corporate Services.
The Chief Executive Officer’s office will directly supervise Corporate Communications, Supply Chain Management, and Legal Services.
Overall, the hospital will operate through 25 divisions aimed at improving clinical outcomes and reinforcing JOOTRH’s position as a centre of excellence in specialised healthcare.
Receiving the instruments, Dr Onudi praised the technical team for their work, noting that JOOTRH was the only institution among several applicants to secure approval for its human resource instruments.
He said the hospital, as a specialised facility, required customised frameworks rather than relying solely on generic national government policies.
The government has reiterated its commitment to streamlining the Social Health Authority (SHA) systems to curb fraud while enhancing access to affordable healthcare services for more than 29 million registered Kenyans.
Health Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale said the government had lost approximately Sh11 billion between October 2024 and April last year through fraudulent and fictitious claims lodged by healthcare facilities during the transition to the SHA system.
Addressing Members of Parliament in Naivasha during the ongoing 2026 Legislative Retreat, Duale revealed that 1,118 healthcare facilities across the country had so far been closed after being implicated in defrauding public funds through the SHA platform.
“The government has commenced investigations into the Sh11 billion syphoned through the SHA system between October 2024 and April last year through fake claims, unprocedural surgeries, ghost patients and collusion,” said Duale.
He noted that most of the fraud occurred during the SHA transition period, adding that investigations were ongoing to hold accountable all facilities and officials involved in the corruption scheme.
Duale warned that the government would not hesitate to shut down more facilities found engaging in fraudulent practices, noting that private healthcare facilities topped the list of offenders, followed by county hospitals and national referral hospitals.
