No bed, no shelter: How timely intervention is saving stranded referral patients in Bomet

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Orthopedic missionary surgeon Dr. Ryan Horazdovsky cuts a ribbon to open Phase 1 at Mustard Seed House in Tenwek, Bomet

Patients travelling to major referral hospitals are sleeping outside facility grounds or crowding into makeshift shelters, unable to afford long stays during treatment.

The pressure is acute at Africa Gospel Church (AGC) Tenwek Hospital in Bomet County and Africa Inland Church (AIC) Kijabe Hospital, which draw patients from across Kenya and more than 12 African countries seeking surgery, rehabilitation and follow-up care, often requiring weeks or months away from home.

Tenwek serves an annual average of 220,000 outpatients and 20,000 inpatients and is a surgery referral centre for a region of more than 8.5 million people.