Healthcare in Kenya (Part 1)

I’ve only been in Kenya for a year and a half, but in that short time, I’ve been immersed in the realities of its healthcare system—one that is complex, often unpredictable, and deeply impacts millions of people just like you and me. 

I’ve wrestled with understanding how it operates, where it falls short, and the critical role that mission hospitals play in filling the gaps. The more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realized how essential it is for anyone who wants to make a real difference to understand it too.

Mothers come from hours away to access our quality intensive care for their newborn and premature babies.

Over the next three posts, I want to take you on a journey through Kenya’s healthcare landscape—its challenges, its disparities, and the hope that still exists within it. This week, we begin with an essential question, below:

What healthcare options exist in Kenya?

For millions of Kenyans, finding quality healthcare is an uphill battle. Government hospitals, though intended to serve the masses, are often overcrowded, underfunded, and lacking essential medicines and staff. Patients wait for hours—sometimes days—only to be turned away without seeing a doctor or told to go find and purchase medications the hospital does not have in stock. I can attest personally to these challenges. We sent a pediatric patient to a government hospital for a consultation by an ophthalmologist in July. It’s now February and despite our attempts at following up, we have yet to receive any results from visit.

Meanwhile, private hospitals exist, and though well-equipped, they remain out of reach for most families due to their high costs. Just to be admitted, patients must pay a $450 cash deposit upfront—before even seeing a doctor—followed by a daily fee of around $100, which doesn’t include the additional costs of labs and medications. For many in Kenya earning the equivalent of $3 a day, a single hospital stay isn’t just expensive—it’s a financial burden that can lead to a lifetime of debt.

The result? Too many people are left with nowhere to turn when sickness or injury strikes.

Imagine a mother arriving at a government facility with her sick child, only to be told there are no doctors available. I’ve heard this story myself. Desperate, she considers a private hospital, but the cost is more than a year’s income for her. This is the daily reality for so many families—caught between broken public systems and unaffordable private care, left to face life-threatening conditions on their own.

But there is another option, a place that stands in the gap for those who would otherwise be forgotten. A place where compassionate, high-quality care is given freely to those in need. In our next post, I want to share with you how mission hospitals like ours are changing lives, alongside the struggle we face to keep our doors open.