Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga on Wednesday commissioned a CT Scan machine worth Ksh45 million to reduce the pressure of sending patients to other hospitals for tests.
Until the new machine was commissioned on Wednesday, patients in Homa Bay had to travel to other counties for scanning.
Patients were mainly referred to hospitals in Kisumu, Kisii and Bomet counties.
According to Wanga, it costs up to Ksh8,000 for a patient to use an ambulance from Homa Bay to another county to get a CT scan.
She said up to 20 patients are referred to other hospitals every day.
"Patients would spend over 100,000 just to move to other counties. We have cut the cost," she said.
The governor added that the machine is a state of the art and can handle 100 patients every 24 hours.
"We will attend to patients from the county and from other countries. The previous administration led by former governor Cyprian Awiti managed to acquire an MRI machine under the Medical equipment leasing project but the two machines have to work together," Wanga said.
Residents expressed joy saying they will be relieved of spending money to seek medical care in other counties.
