KNH to put up Sh15bn seven-storey private hospital

Kenya’s largest referral hospital plans to put up a Sh15 billion seven-storey private hospital to fund public services in the parent institution.

In a public notice posted in the dailies, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) said the 300-bed facility that will stand on 3.6 hectares will be developed under a design, construct, equip, finance, operate and maintain model within the next five years.

“Kenyatta National Hospital Board (KNHB) now wishes to have developed a separate private hospital (the Project) under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement that will serve fee-paying private patients, hence providing a source of additional funding to support the main public hospital,” says the published request for qualification (RFQ) notice.

The level six facility whose construction starts in 2020 is set to offer premium services and will be a standalone facility with 500 motor vehicle parking slots.

“The prospective bidder must have acted as a hospital operator for not less than five years in a performance-based Level 6 specialist healthcare facility under a public-public partnership contract or a privately run Level 6 facility with a minimum 300 beds,” says the RFQ.

The successful bidder will also be expected to manage, maintain as well as procure and install hi tech medical equipment as well as oversee delivery of clinical services.

Currently, KNH has a private wing where doctors run own clinics but have to go to private hospitals to attend other patients.

The building, whose feasibility study is being undertaken by Ernst & Young, is the first healthcare public private partnership (PPP) project in Kenya where investors build and own a facility for a number of years to recover costs and make profit before transferring it to the State.