Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is reportedly set to join the board of Mutuini Level IV Hospital in Dagoretti South.
If confirmed, the appoitment will come at a time when the facility is undergoing one of the biggest healthcare upgrades in Nairobi County.
The hospital, which is being transformed into the ultra-modern Mama Rachel Ruto Specialist Hospital, is now over 90 per cent complete ahead of its expected commissioning.
The need to bring in Sonko is triggered by the projected load of work the facility will attract once it attains the level V status.
Recent updates from government officials indicate the project has reached between 91 and 92 per cent completion, with installation of medical equipment and final commissioning works ongoing.
The multi-billion-shilling project is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Health and Nairobi County Government after the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) stepped in to rescue the stalled construction works.
Once complete, the hospital will officially operate as a Level 5 referral facility with a 350 to 400-bed capacity and is expected to serve more than one million patients annually.
The upcoming facility will include:Intensive Care Unit (ICU),High Dependency Unit (HDU),Renal and dialysis centre,Modern maternity and newborn units,Human milk bank
Accident and emergency centre,Chemotherapy and cancer treatment centre?,CT Scan, X-ray and advanced laboratory services.
It will also have modern surgical theatres and trauma centre.
The hospital is located near the Southern Bypass in Dagoretti South, and is expected to ease pressure on major referral hospitals such as Kenyatta National Hospital, Mbagathi Hospital and Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.
Governor Johnson Sakaja previously confirmed that the facility would be renamed Mama Rachel Ruto Hospital in honour of First Lady Rachel Ruto due to her advocacy for maternal health and women empowerment programmes.
Sonko’s expected appointment is seen by many as significant because of his strong connection to grassroots healthcare support during his time as Nairobi governor.
Throughout his political career, Sonko built a reputation for directly assisting vulnerable patients, clearing hospital bills for needy Kenyans and supporting emergency medical cases through his personal initiatives and charity programmes.
He is expexted to enhance crisis response and public mobilisation amd help strengthen governance and service delivery at the new referral.
The development also comes just days after digital influencer and youth leader Calvince Okoth, popularly known as Gaucho, was appointed to the board of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital as Nairobi County continues restructuring management boards across public health facilities.
