The Vihiga County Teaching and Referral hospital has made significant strides in its radiology department through the recent repair of the CT scan machine.
The move has improved the quality of service and care to its patients and drastically reduced the queues and the number of patients at the facility.
The Radiologist in charge at Vihiga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Michael Rotich in an interview with KNA said that the CT scan machine was repaired in January 2026 and is currently functional with engineers on site in case of any repair emergency.
Rotich noted that the number of patients had drastically increased ever since the machine became functional again, starting with about 100 patients to the current 300 patients per month, but aspiring to go up to as many as 500-600 patients in the same duration.
He added that the machine has come in handy and become very helpful especially in terms of diagnosis of diseases such as malignant tumors and non-malignant tumors, with clinicians very happy to perform their duties effectively when it comes to patient care and management.
“We are now also serving other counties as we are also getting referrals, this is because in other countries after examination of a patient, results would be out after one or two weeks but in our facility the results are immediate, within a time frame of 24 hours,” said Rotich.
The Radiologist further said that they have not experienced any breakages with the CT scan machine, as it is serviced every month with their main aim being to ensure that the patients get cured from their ailments and not only manage treatment.
“When it comes to challenges, there have not existed much challenges as there were before, as being in constant communication with the administration and the county government has put us in a position to lay down our issues that are often resolved, given that the examinations done by the hospital also generate revenue for the hospital,” stated Rotich.
In regard to safety measures being taken when the machines are in operation, he assured that necessary precautions are taken to protect the patient, whereby in the case of an expectant mother, one has to weigh the options of whether the CT scan is necessary, adding that for other patients, if the CT scan has to be conducted on the brain, other parts of the body are to be covered.
Rotich highlighted that they aspire to have more diagnostic machines like the MRI, which is expected to arrive in December, noting that the MRI does not have radiation and can handle cases that the CT scan cannot, like the neurological ones.
He, however, reiterated that the machines would have to be upgraded to fit a Level V status and to also increase the number of staff due to an increase in the number of patients accessing the services.
Rotich thanked the hospital administration for partnering with the county government in an effort to ensure continuous maintenance of the machine.
“For the X-ray machine, we normally do see 700 cases per month and have actually assisted the facility in diagnosis of illnesses like Tuberculosis, pneumonia and even fractures, among others,” said Rotich.
He added that servicing of the X-ray machines is done in three months and currently has some minor issues, which the administration can handle easily.
As for statistics provided to KNA by the hospital communication team, a total of 1064 CT scans had been conducted from January to April 2026 with March recording the highest number of scans at 310 representing 29.1 percent of the total scans.
The month of April followed closely with 301 scans, a representation of 28.3 percent and February having a total of 284 scans, which is 26.7 percent, while January recorded the lowest number of CT scans at 169 contributing 15.9 percent of the total scans.
As for the X-rays, ranging from the month of December 2025 to April 2026, February recorded the highest number of X-rays with 540 examinations, with December and April registering relatively high utilization rates with 356 and 352 X-rays, respectively.
He said March recorded 250 X-rays, while January had the lowest with 141 X-rays.
by Yvonne Misango and Florence Oteng’o
