The Dadaab refugee and host communities on Monday 10th June; 2013, received a visit from the British Red Cross Secretary General, Nick Young, the British Red Cross East African Representative Karen Peachey and the Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General, Dr. Abbas Gullet, whose visit aimed at seeing the progress of the Level 5 hospital; that is being constructed by the KRCS with funding from the British Red Cross Society.
The Level 5 hospital will be used by the refugees at the Dadaab Refugee Camp as well as the host community in IFO 2 East and West and its environs as a referral centre for any medical emergencies. The Dadaab Refugee complex is made up of five camps namely Dagahaley, Hagadera, IFO, IFO 2 (East and West) and Kambioos hosting at least 500,000 refugees. Each camp is under management by a lead agency that provides camp management services to the refugees. The camps are also run by implementing agencies which provide specific services such as Health, Water and Sanitation, Education within the camps.
The KRCS came into IFO 2 West as a lead agency offering Health Services and Camp Management services from 27th October 2011 by setting up temporary clinics with outreach services. The UNHCR further requested KRCS to extend these services to IFO 2 East after the implementing partner suddenly withdrew.
Part of the projects that were incomplete when the KRCS took over Camp Management in IFO 2 East was a hospital that was then under construction and that was to be constructed to the standards of a Provincial hospital. Consequently, the KRCS has been working on the same and the hospital is currently in the final stages of completion.
Further, the KRCS is managing four other health facilities and the newly constructed hospital. The new hospital has six wards and two theatres that can admit between 100 – 120 patients.