P C E A Kikuyu Hospital - Kenya

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) Kikuyu Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals in Kenya, having been founded in 1908 by Scottish Missionaries, led by Dr. Arthur. The aim of the missionaries was to educate the young boys and girls as health workers, among other objectives.

Growing slowly over the early years from its beginnings as a small first-aid centre, the hospital received a major boost in 1975 from the late President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who seconded medical staff to the hospital from the Government. In the same year, the first ophthalmic work was done at the newly-founded Eye Unit.

In addition, work on diabetes, a condition which brought so many patients to the Eye Unit, expanded in 1993 into a specialist Diabetes Unit aiming at teaching self-management to  

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diabetic patients and their families, and also at improving knowledge and skills among health professionals. The process of establishing a centre of excellence in diabetes treatment and management is underway.

The hospital established the Eye Unit in 1975 and it serves patients from East and Central Africa and also trains medical personnel in eye care. This has inevitably made Kikuyu Hospital known well beyond the country's borders. In 1993, an orthopedic unit was set up to specifically deal with orthopedic problems not related to trauma. This program has evolved into a comprehensive Rehabilitation Centre and new facilities for this work were built and dedicated in 1998.