• As part of GE’s commitment to supporting sustainable healthcare development in Kenya, the $13 million investment provides localized human capital development capabilities
• The institute builds on the Ministry’s ongoing $420 million health modernization program, which has new impact data demonstrating improved access to radiology services for patients and increased operational performance 

General Electric (NYSE: GE) (www.GE.com) today marked another step in the development of sustainable healthcare in Kenya, with the inauguration of the brand new $13 million GE Healthcare Skills and Training Institute, an education facility for healthcare professionals.

The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Dr Cleopa Mailu, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health for Kenya (or designate) and Mr. John Flannery, President & CEO of GE Healthcare, in Nairobi.

Through the new facility, GE has committed to training over 10,000 healthcare professionals from across Kenya and East Africa by 2020.

At the inauguration event, Dr. Cleopa Mailu, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health said: “Demand for quality healthcare is increasing.  The GE Training Centre will play a critical role in supporting the capacity development of biomedical engineers, radiologists and technicians, helping to reduce the skills gap, improve job prospects and build a solid national healthcare system.”

The GE Healthcare Skills and Training Institute will initially offer clinical applications and technical training courses for healthcare professionals in Kenya and East Africa; over the longer-term, it will be expanded to offer leadership, biomedical and clinical education courses, working with the Ministry of Health, private healthcare providers and other educational partners.

During the event, deepening its local partnerships to support human capital development and capacity building, GE Healthcare also signed three new partnerships for skills building in Kenya and East Africa with the Kenya Medical Training College and global partners IntraHealth and Management Sciences for Health.

Farid Fezoua, President & CEO, GE Healthcare Africa said: “The new centre will not only help to ensure that Kenya’s healthcare workforce receives critical training to optimize the full features and benefits of country’s newest healthcare equipment, in the future, it will support the development of a pipeline of future biomedical engineers, radiologists and technicians. This commitment to healthcare capacity building will help to reduce the country’s skills gap, improve job prospects and build a solid national healthcare system and private healthcare sector.”

Healthcare Modernization Shows Increased Access to Healthcare

Further, assessment of the impact of Government’s radiology modernization initiative, being executed by GE, has shown positive early trends with increased system efficiency, reduced patient waiting times and increased throughput. Results show: 

         Emphasizing the Ministry’s focus on digital transformation to bring better quality healthcare, an increase in examination volume post implementation from about 1,500 monthly digital exams to over 28,800 monthly digital exams across the first 44 hospitals[1]

         Improved workflow efficiency has shown a preliminary 14% reduction in average scan time from analogue to digital[2]

         A +50% improvement in access to radiology services across three pilot hospitals in the first 5 months’ post installation of the new equipment[3]

         Reliable and continuous radiology services with response and rectification time ensuring operation of the equipment for more than 95% of the time

         Screening for breast cancer, a leading cancer killer in Kenya, 90% of level 5 hospitals have so far been installed with the latest digital mammography capability, enabling 30% of these facilities to offer in-house mammography exams for the first-time.

“To date, radiology departments at 70 modernized hospitals are delivering services to patients in 42 of the 47 counties. Work is well underway in the remaining 28 hospitals.” Said Dr. Mailu, “While data that assesses the long-term impact of the programme will take some time to be compiled and analysed, the early results are positive.”

In February 2015, the Kenyan Ministry of Health and GE signed a contract in response to Kenya’s Managed Equipment Services plan, which includes a four-pillar solution being provided by GE: an adapted technology approach covering wide scale radiology modernization with e-health capabilities; a sustainable service and maintenance program; a commitment to localized skills development and capacity building and a structured financing solution that is enabling the Ministry to sustainably fund its long-term healthcare transformation.