Ministry of Health
Health PS , Dr . Nicholas Muraguri inspecting MES projects at King Fahad Hospital in Lamu County on October 10th , 2016
Under an MES arrangement , the MES Provider supplies , installs , trains users , manages and maintains a portfolio of medical equipment on a long-term basis . The MES Provider will own the equipment and provide it to the identified hospitals as part of a managed service encompassing all the necessary elements to support effective use of the equipment .
The MES provider shall assume the risk and responsibility of procuring , installing , maintaining and replacing the equipment in the hospitals for the next 7 years .
On the other hand , equipping 20 hospitals with MRI equipment is a collaboration between the Government of Peoples Republic of China and Government of Kenya . The Government of the People ’ s Republic of China is financing the project through a loan facility . The MRI project is not therefore under MES .
However , these two projects are being implemented by the Ministry of Health with the aim of improving healthcare of Kenyans . The goal of the MRI project is to improve diagnostic capacity in public hospitals through supply and installation of MRI equipment .
Q2 . Compared to buying new medical equipment what are the advantages of leasing as opposed to buying ?
The value for money assessment carried out clearly showed that the MES tender prices were lower than the market price of the equipment . The Government will be able to make substantial savings by using the MES model compared to outright purchase of the equipment . More importantly , Kenyans will be able to access medical services immediately , which could otherwise have taken 7 years to purchase the equipment for all counties .
Citizens shall therefore enjoy equity in accessing uninterrupted , quality , specialized healthcare services regardless of location within Kenya .
In addition , costs for regular service , maintenance , repairs , upgrade and replacement of spare parts for all equipment throughout the programme are borne by the MES provider . This will improved services in the hospitals due to reduced equipment faults and malfunctions .
40 November-December 2016