The Kilifi county Government through the Department of Health and Sanitation Services has launched a fully equipped modern Radiology Unit that will offer subsidized services to patients.

The new Radiology Unit aims to provide a wide range of radiology services and reduce cost and travel time for the patients, significantly increasing access to specialized diagnostic services for the residents of Kilifi County. 

This development is expected to enhance the quality of healthcare services by offering much-needed diagnostic capabilities and cheaper services to residents. 

The new unit, a 64-slice Computed Tomography (CT scanner), produces real-time graphic diagnosis images as compared to the 16-slice CT scanners which often produce unclear images, forcing patients to repeat the process. 

Speaking during the official launch of the Radiology Unit at the Kilifi County Referral Hospital, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health Peter Mwarogo said that the new machine has the capability to attend to more than 30 patients in a day.

Since it started operating a week ago, more than 200 patients from Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu counties have already benefited from its services. 

“In our private hospitals CT scan services cost between Ksh. 9,900 and Ksh. 11,000 and the machines are 16 slice which do not produce proper images and our services will cost Ksh. 5,900 with our 64 slice machine that produces clear images and those registered on SHA will be covered for free,” said Mwarogo.

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro has committed to equipping all the level 4 hospitals in Malindi, Mariakani, Marafa, and Mtwapa with CT scan machines to reduce the distance patients travel to seek radiology services. 

“This will offer the cheapest services and the machine was not bought from a shop but it was ordered and was built for Kilifi County,” he said. 

Mohammed Said, a resident of Kilifi County, shared his relief at the new unit’s availability saying that it will help residents save on time and money. 

“We used to travel long distances either to Malindi or Mombasa for the CT scan, spending a lot on fare, only to wait until the next day for the scan and pay Ksh11,000 but the unit at this hospital is going to be very helpful,” he said. 

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya on his part hailed Mung’aro for investing in health saying that services offered will reduce mortality rates in the county. 

“We now have an opportunity to detect diseases and to reduce the mortality rates for both adults and children,” he said.