The CAITLIN O’HARA COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC
The COVID-19 pandemic as well as extensive conversations with local leaders and candid feedback from The Kenyan Ministry of Health repeatedly reaffirmed the need for improved access to health services within our community. Kenya has a shortage of well-equipped, community-based medical facilities. With poor road conditions, limited access to transportation, and an under-resourced health system, many do not have access to care. We are changing this. The clinic, designed in partnership with Build Health International, aims to provide accessible, equitable, and sustainable health services to the community in Nanyuki, Kenya. To complement the health clinic and expand our reach, outreach programs bring prevention, screening and treatment services to the community. We are also equipped to offer ambulance services which helps to democratize access to emergency care.
The clinic is open to all community members, while our outreach program will focus on providing education and services to the harder-to-reach and more vulnerable groups in the community, such as women and children. Currently, the clinic provides outpatient services including antenatal and postnatal clinics, child nutrition assessments and immunizations, primary health care, sexual and reproductive health care, psychosocial support and mental health services. With both a pharmacy and laboratory, the clinic provides comprehensive services, where patients will have access to tests, investigations and medicines that meet their health care needs. In an effort to improve the accuracy and completeness of medical records, reduce the risk of medical errors and improve patient safety a proprietary Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system has been developed in partnership with Amazon Web Services. The EMR system is used throughout the facility by staff members at every point of care to facilitate better communication and coordination among healthcare providers to provide more timely and effective services to patients.
The clinic opened its doors to the community on August 7, 2023.
“Many can just walk to a hospital, get clinical services, have a child, and go back home. In our constituency, you will find pregnant mothers in labour who have to walk or hitch a motorbike for 20km to the nearest dispensary, because there is no transport. Then she gets there and finds the one nurse has gone out. Even simple things like vaccinations are difficult to find, so you can have children who still cannot access vaccines for things like polio or tuberculosis. That has a great impact on the health of mothers and children. To some of these women, primary health care is just a mirage, something you talk about in big towns, but very far from their reality.”