The Board of Directors of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) held a meeting with the Kisumu Health County team to seek ways of unlocking bottlenecks that hinder the delivery of Health Products and Technologies (HPTs).
Led by the Chair Ms. Mary Mwadime and Dr. Emma Obegi of Kisumu County Pharmacists, the teams resolved to review all areas of concern including an outstanding debt of Sh 41 million to ensure orders were placed by Kisumu County are handled expeditiously.
“One of the main issues we are grappling with is the matter of having proper quantification to enable us to serve you better,” explained Ms. Mwadime.
Dr. Obegi said they are keen on working with KEMSA but urged for improvement in the order fill rate so that they are able to receive all the commodities requested and in good time.
“We are requesting that you bring together relevant teams to review the existing medical stocks to determine their relevance in healthcare. We have allocated Sh 80 million for purchasing HPTs for Rural Health Facilities and will appreciate if the orders are serviced to completion and all the centers get what they need to offer seamless service to Kisumu residents,” said Dr. Obegi.
Most of KEMSA’s problems are systematic and will be addressed through the reforms that were announced by Ms. Mwadime last week which include, but are not limited to organizational restructuring.
Ms Mwadime, reiterated that as staff work from home for the next 30 days, the Authority is undertaking normal operations guided by a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) which was formulated and executed before the release of non-core workers.
The Board is being assisted by a multi-agency operations team to handle logistics, human resource management, quality assurance, physical and information security, among other dockets.
Ms. Mwadime also emphasized on the importance of County Governments owing KEMSA to settle their debts so that the Authority can service orders comfortably.
A representative from the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Dr. George Rae expressed their commitment to work with the Authority saying KEMSA’s pricing of HPTs is fair.
Dr Rae called on the KEMSA Board to step on the pedal and ensure that they improve order fill rate in order to support unlimited access to quality healthcare, “In walking this talk we have to identify issues that are cropping up and quickly forecast in order to be at par with societal changes and remain relevant,” said Dr Rae.
He challenged KEMSA to stay above the competition by improving their ability to do data analysis in order to give HPTs projection accurately.
Ms. Mwadime agreed with Dr. Rae’s sentiments and said the Board is committed to facilitating the necessary reforms to ensure that KEMSA challenges are addressed.
