Classification of Health Facilities in Kenya.

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Healthcare Facilities can be described as places where a person can receive any form of care/assistance from a professional in the medical field. These places range from: clinics to health centres to dispensaries and even hospitals; just to name a few. In Kenya, there are different types of healthcare facilities. The classification can be done based on:

• Ownership i.e. who runs the facility
• Levels (Only in the case of public facilities)

A. OWNERSHIP

• Public Facilities – These are run by the government through the Ministry of Health; which is devolved to each of the 47 counties.
• Private Facilities – These are run by:
  1. Individuals or Groups for profit
  2. Religious / Faith Based Organisations & Groups (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Nuns etc.)
  3. Non Governmental Organisations

B. LEVELS

The Ministry of Health has classified public facilities according to the services provided and the medical professionals available. The levels go from 1 to 6 as shown below.

LEVEL 1 – Community Health Unit

Health facilities categorised as level one, are run by Community-Based Health Workers under Community Health Commitees. They include Community Health: Volunteers (CHV), Extension Workers (CHEW), Assistants (CHA) and health officers (CHO) etc. They provide basic care & prevention services, as well as, education on key health messages. They provide these services to the communities (approximately 5,000 people) through households. These units also offer referral services to healthcare facilities at other levels.

LEVEL 2 – Dispensary

Dispensaries provide a wider array of services e.g Outpatient Services, Laboratory, Pharmacy etc. However, they do not provide inpatient services. They are often run by Clinical Officers.

LEVEL 3 – Health Centre

Health Centres are run by a doctor and have inpatient services. In addition to the services aoffered at Level 2, they have specialised clinics such as: Dental, X-Ray, Diabetes etc.

LEVEL 4 & LEVEL 5

Sub-District / Sub-County Hospital & District / County / Provincial Hospital

This level is the highest level in majority of the counties. Different counties have different classifications hence the difference between the two is a thin line. However, the principle of ‘higher care’ is the same. Level 4 are often Sub-District or Sub-County Hospitals while Level 5 are District or County (formerly Provincial) Hospitals.
In addition to the services at Level 3, these levels have: Theatre, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and a bigger inpatient capacity. They are run by Directors or CEO’s who are Medical Professionals and have more than one / several doctors in the facility.

LEVEL 6 – National Referral Hospitals

Unlike the other 4 levels, this level is not run by county governments. It is under the national government through the Ministry of Health. In the health sector, the national government also manages: NHIF (National Hospital Insurance Fund), KEMSA (Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, NQCL (National Quality Control Laboratory) and National Blood Transfusion Services.

The following are the Level 6 hospitals:

In Kenya, 46% of health facilities are public while the rest are private facilities. Of the private facilities, 7% are owned by Faith Based Organisations while 3% by Non-Governmental Organisations. The remaining 44% owned by individuals and organisations.

As of June 2022.

In future articles, we will look at what this classification looks like in different counties. See you then!

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