GE plans Sh1.3bn Nairobi healthcare training centre
General Electric will start training health workers locally from November. PHOTO | FILE
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The school in Karen will have about 15 of the firm’s experts to offer training to biomedical engineers, radiologists and technicians in the region in handling the equipment.
GE said the centre, which would consist of a showroom and lecture rooms, would help them train more than 1,000 professionals in the next three years and bridge the shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in East Africa.
US multinational General Electric is set to commission a Sh1.3 billion healthcare training school in Karen, Nairobi, that is scheduled to open by end of the year.
GE, which is also undertaking key energy projects in the country, says it will install X-ray, mammography and ultrasound machines, among others, at the facility which it expects to be operational by November.
The centre, the first by GE in Africa, will have about 15 of the firm’s experts to offer training to biomedical engineers, radiologists and technicians in the region in handling the equipment.
“The centre is set to become GE’s first dedicated skills development facility in Africa that will serve Kenya and the wider East Africa,” said Farid Fezoua, president and chief executive of GE Healthcare Africa.
“The institute will initially offer biomedical and clinical applications training courses and over the longer-term will be expanded to offer leadership, technical and clinical education courses.”
GE said the centre, which would consist of a showroom and lecture rooms, would help them train more than 1,000 professionals in the next three years and bridge the shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in East Africa.
The training centre is part of GE Healthcare’s global commitment to invest more than $1 billion (Sh100 billion) in the development and delivery of localised offerings for the healthcare sector.
GE in February signed a Sh42 billion partnership with the ministry of Health to modernise the radiology infrastructure in 98 hospitals across the country.
The agreement, which received opposition from governors, will see the deployment of more than 585 pieces of diagnostic imaging equipment that are supported by a long-term servicing contract.
The upcoming Karen facility will be used by healthcare professionals in these hospitals as part of the modernisation deal, offering hands-on training in how to use the new equipment.
Private hospitals that want to train their staff will also have access to the training facility at a fee.
“At the moment, we either have to bring in our experts to train Kenyan technicians or fly them out to our offices. This is not a very efficient way of doing things,” said Mr Fezoua.
“We also expect to train professionals from neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.”
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