The County Government of Vihiga is committed to providing equitable, affordable, and quality health care of the highest standard to all its residents as stipulated in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution 2010. To achieve this, the department of health services developed a county health strategic plan for 2013 – 2018 which provides a roadmap of how the Health Department intends to provide Health Services in an enabling environment.

This strategic plan unveils the Health Department’s Vision, Mission, goal, strategic objectives, core values, and functions; policy priorities, investment areas, implementation framework, and the resource requirements between 2013 and 2018. The plan is aligned and anchored to the Integrated County development Plan, National Health Policy, The Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and The Kenya Vision 2030. The department is governed by a lean team which consists of the County Executive member, Chief Officer, County Director, and five heads of divisions namely: Head of Curative, Diagnostic and Rehabilitative Services; Head of Health Administrative and supportive services; Head of Health Information, Planning, M&E; Head of Preventive and Promotive health services; Head of Nursing and Family Health Services. Consequently, this health management team oversees other 600 officers working within 32 different cadres out of which 310 are nurses, for effective service delivery. Currently, the department has a total of 43 public health facilities which comprises 3 hospitals, 18 health centers and 22 dispensaries.

All these facilities are well spread in the entire County within a radius of not more than 5 kilometers apart. The department has realized very significant achievements since its inception. This includes, establishment of County Medical Training College in collaboration with Kenya Medical Training College, currently with a total of 200 students whereby the majority comes from our county; Opening of 3 new Dispensaries; Procurement of 3 fully equipped ambulances to aid patients emergency and referral services; construction of an oxygen plant at county referral hospital and modernization of the mortuary is ongoing; employment of 163 health workers in various cadres, Procurement of assorted equipment for our public health facilities; completion of 20 stalled health projects; Renovations and improvement works in 5 public health facilities; procurement of drugs, non pharmaceuticals and other medical commodities necessary for quality health care. Our strategic direction is to improve, upgrade and equip the existing facilities without opening any other new one in order to gain optimum output from the available human resources, financial resources and infrastructure which includes buildings, equipment and technology.

In addition, the department shall upgrade six health facilities in the five sub counties to hospitals that can provide level four hospital services. The county referral hospital will be modernized. Plans are at an advanced stage to commence construction of a six storey plaza that will house various wards that will accommodate a capacity of 160 beds including executive wing, several theaters, ICU unit, Dialysis unit, administration offices and medical school classes among others. More specialists will be employed and more sophisticated diagnostic equipment will be procured for managing patients with chronic diseases.