Public Health Department

Public Health Department

The value of physician leadership is more vital than ever. With the complexity and uncertainty around healthcare, it takes a special type of guidance to help the industry find its way. The Public Health Department is one of the longest-serving sections of the JOOTRH. 

The department has been on a continuous journey towards quality health care service delivery to the residents of Kisumu County and seeks to increasingly deliver the most affordable and recommendable health care services in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Development Program.

The department consists of 2 public health officers and 1 technician in charge of insect vector vermin control, all of whom are permanent and pensionable. The department employs only certified public health personnel or those with relevant certification.

 The Public health department which reports to the JOOTRH management in cases of emergency or crisis is universal and dynamic and hence serves at the centre of health issues from all possible angles. 

The department has a vision and mission which provide unanimity of purpose to organizations and imbue the employees with a sense of belonging and identity.

VISION

To be the most effective and efficient department in the provision of public health services in the region.

MISSION

To ensure staff, patients and clients dwell, work and get treated in a cleaner safe environment.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT

• Institutional sanitation; provides access to safe disposal of human and medical waste.
• Vector, pest and vermin control; using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to reduce and eliminate pests that are a threat to human health.
• Maintain a functional drainage system; overseeing the proper piping that conveys sewage, rainwater and other liquid waste to a point of disposal. 
• Food quality control; protect the staff, clients and the public from dangers like contaminated food.
• Solid/liquid waste management; ensures the proper dissemination of liquid/solid waste. 
• Maintain a steady safe water supply; ensuring a reliable supply of safe and clean water within the vicinity.
• Beautification/landscaping of hospital; modification of the visible features in the hospital environment.
• Infection prevention and control; initiating measures to prevent and control diseases within the hospital.

In the process of performing its duties and responsibilities, the department has put in place waste management measures around the hospital. In collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), it has been able to initiate waste disposal measures using state-of-the-art medical waste disposal systems and machines. This move has enabled the successful disposal of medical waste hence ensuring institutional sanitation and solid/liquid waste management which is one of its core duties.

The department, in the quest to offer quality services, has set the following objectives;

• To initiate training of JOOTRH staff in medical waste management.
• Increase its resource and commodities supply for better service delivery.
• To increase the number of employees to reduce workload.
• Conduct further research in the areas of public health especially sanitation to be of benefit to the public and the general staff of JOOTRH.
• To create a friendly working environment within the department to fuel the achievement of all of the above objectives.