By Nyang’au Araka
An anxious wait at Nyamira County Referral Hospital turned into relief as 33 patients received free surgeries and are now recovering through a medical outreach programme.
The surgical camp, which started on Monday, has brought together more than 60 medics from Nyamira County and the US-based Medical Missions Foundation, offering life-changing operations to patients who might otherwise have gone without care.
Among them is a team of 31 volunteer doctors from the US who arrived on Sunday and immediately joined local specialists to screen hundreds of patients.
By Tuesday, 33 had successfully undergone surgery and were resting in the wards, some seeing the inside of an operating theatre for the first time.
When he visited the hospital on Tuesday, Governor Amos Nyaribo moved from bed to bed, checking on the recovering patients and offering reassurance.
He praised the medical teams for their commitment and promised continued care until full recovery.
For many patients, the camp brought treatment and hope as they thanked the county government for partnering with international doctors to ease the burden of medical costs they said they could not afford.
Dr Billy Tanui, the team leader from Medical Missions Foundation, said the demand for services had been overwhelming.
“More than 400 patients turned up for screening. Unfortunately, we may not be able to operate on everyone within the limited time we are here,” he said.
Governor Nyaribo appealed to the visiting team to return in the near future to continue the programme, noting that the need for specialised care remains high in the county.
Health, he added, sits at the heart of his development agenda.
“We are going to allocate Sh200 million to ensure our hospitals have adequate drugs,” the governor said.
Nyamira County Executive Committee Member for Health Dr Donald Mogoi described the camp as a lifeline, particularly for patients unable to meet surgical fees.
The camp continues through to Friday.
