Wamalwa Kijana Hospital Embraces High-Tech Cleaning Machines as Natembeya Administration Defends Outsourcing Reforms

The Wamalwa Kijana Teaching and Referral Hospital has turned  to automated scrubbing and floor-cleaning machines to maintain strict infection control, improve cleaning consistency, and reduce labor costs compared to manual mopping.

The facility’s Board chairman professor Ferdinand Nang’oe  said during an interview with Vipasho news that  such machines in hospitals significantly reduce the time required for maintenance and sanitation compared to traditional manual methods.

‘’Automated and mechanized floor scrubbers clean up to faster than standard mop-and-bucket techniques while robotic scrubbers can run independently for up to 13 hours a day, taking over repetitive corridor and large-room cleaning’’, he told Vision News.

The Board Chairman while responding to  concerns raised by critics to the move to switch to the new technological measures noted that  Specialized equipment such as compact scrubber-dryers  uses less liquid and extracts dirty water instantly, leaving floors dry and safe for foot traffic much faster.

By automating routine floor care, he noted that environmental services staff save physical energy and gain valuable time to focus on detailed disinfection of high-touch patient areas.

The Use of scrubbing machines at the facility sparked an outrage from locals who accused the administration for its decision to outsource non-clinical services such as cleaning, catering, and security to private companies, with   critics arguing that the decision had led to the abrupt displacement of long-serving local subordinate staff without proper notice or due process.

The Critics faulted the electric floor scrubbing machines at the hospital, claiming that they were likely going to harbor and aerosolize dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria, which can trigger facility-wide outbreaks.

The Board Chairman and other members of the hospital administration rubbished the claims, saying there was strict zoning of equipment, denying that there was mixing of ward , toilet machines with food or surgical areas.

‘’ We have  installed  specialized cleaning machines tailored to the specific hygiene, safety, and traffic demands of each department with each department having its own Specific Cleaning Machines’’, he told the Vision News.

He added that all operating rooms including sterile processing units use disinfection lights and steam cleaners to destroy pathogens at a microscopic level without spreading airborne dust.

Hospital administrator Rose  Wangila wepukhulu also told Vision News that   Public Lobbies and  Outpatient Hals were using the autonomous  floor scrubbers and ride-on scrubber-dryers to handle wide, high-traffic hard-floor areas efficiently during peak hours while keeping water pickup fast to prevent slips.

She added that Patient Wards  and Corridors Uses Compact scrubber-dryers) that offer ultra-low noise levels to avoid disturbing resting patients, combined with rapid drying capabilities.

Governor George Natembeya’s administration defended the privatization of cleaning, security, and catering as a reform measure to curb the theft of medical supplies and improve institutional efficiency.

However, it came out that those that protested that existing workers were locked out, transferred, or left unpaid without official termination or transfer letters were acting on failing to win the tenders with the Governor maintaining that the restructuring aimed to fix systemic loopholes, noting that outsourcing services like catering had previously saved public funds and tightened security against pilferage.

The Hospital with a 300 bed capacity, the County boss said was incurring huge payments of over Sh. 120 million to make purchases for foodstuffs at the facility’s kitchen, starving other departments including pharmacies and other critical services.

‘’ The Hospital is now spending less money on patient feeding  due to the institutional budget constraints , fragmented procurement systems  and  the high rate of thirst for money by those we had entrusted . Sh. 34 million per year compared to the over Sh. 120million   that was going to pockets of individuals is a milestone’’, Said the Governor in a public meeting in Mandarara in Kwanza Sub County.

Several patients in different wards at the Wamalwa Kijana Teaching and Referral Hospital interviewed by Vision News were full of praise to the administration, saying that dieds had tremendously changed to the better.

Daniel kihanya said his patient admitted two weeks  had steadily improved, adding that so many of the patients were being discharged more healthier and stronger than when they were admitted.