Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja paid an impromptu visit to Mbagathi Hospital where he unveiled a state-of-the-art Abbott blood screening machine.
In a press release on Wednesday, September 10, Sakaja’s administration said the newly acquired equipment will enable faster and more accurate blood grouping and compatibility testing, and improve the safety of transfusions.
It also said the new technology will enhance preparedness for elective procedures and strengthen emergency response capabilities in county health facilities.
Observing the machine in action, Sakaja described it as a game-changer in addressing the county’s longstanding challenges in blood screening.
“Governor Johnson Sakaja commended the hospital’s leadership for this milestone, emphasizing that investments in modern medical technology are essential to transform Nairobi’s healthcare system and delivering efficient, qualities services to residents,” the release read.
With the lack in-house screening capabilities in facilities such as Mama Lucy and Pumwani, the Abbott machine at creates a centralized hub for blood screening within the county, ensuring that all facilities can receive timely and safe transfusions.
Mbagathi Hospital is now the only accredited blood screening center within Nairobi County, a development that complements last year’s acquisition of a plasma agitator and strengthens the county’s overall blood screening capacity.
This comes weeks after Mbagathi Hospital announced that it will not be attending to inmates over an unpaid debt exceeding Ksh12 million owed by the Kenya Prison Service.
According to reports on Sunday, August 24, the hospital announced that the suspension of services to prisoners took effect on August 4, 2025.
According to hospital records, the debt is linked to treatments provided to inmates over several years.
As of November 2024, the State Department for Correctional Services had already accumulated arrears of Ksh6.7 million for medical services rendered between July 2018 and November 2022.
Hospital management noted that despite repeated follow-ups, no settlement was made, leaving the institution unable to meet its operational needs.
Officials explained that the failure to clear the obligations had strained the hospital’s ability to purchase essential supplies, forcing the suspension.
“This letter serves as a formal notification that we are suspending our services to prisoners effective Monday, 4th August, 2025,” Mbagathi County Referral Hospital said in its notice.
In response, the Kenya Prison Service issued an appeal urging the hospital to reconsider its decision and allow time to resolve the issue.
“A kind appeal to your institution to lift the directive on suspension of services while KPS and the State Department for Correctional Services work on modalities of settling the outstanding obligations,” said Patrick M. Aranduh, Commissioner General of Prisons.
