The government has announced plans to construct an eight-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Malindi Sub-County hospital as part of a Kshs. 950 million social economic development project in Kilifi.

This ICU is set to serve the Kilifi, Tana River, and Lamu Counties, addressing a critical healthcare need in the region. The initiative is part of the Malindi Integrated Social and Health Development Programme’ (MISHDP-II), aimed at enhancing the social and economic development of Malindi and Magarini Sub-Counties in Kilifi in line with the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

During a tour of the project sites, Cabinet Secretary for EAC and Regional Development, Peninah Malonza, expressed the significance of the ICU facility, stating, “I am interested in this particular project because during COVID-19 where we had quite a number of emergencies and critical cases that came up. We didn’t have an ICU in Kilifi County. People were being referred all the way from Tana River, Lamu, and Kilifi to Mombasa.”

The second phase of the project, funded by a concessional loan from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by the Coast Development Authority (CDA), also includes the tarmacking of the Mjanaheri-Ngomeni road, the construction of a bypass footbridge at Burangi, and the improvement of educational facilities for several schools in the area.