About Maua Methodist Hospital

Location

Maua Methodist Hospital is in Meru County, Kenya East Africa.MMH is situated in the Nyambene Hills at an altitude of 5,600 feet, 276 Kms north east of Nairobi.

Brief History

Maua Methodist Hospital (MMH) is an institution of the Methodist Church in Kenya, established in 1928 by British Methodist Missionaries in obedience to the great commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). From that humble and modest start, the hospital has grown to be a Regional Referral Hospital in Meru County, providing holistic services to a wide catchment area and offering training of health care workers. MMH has also become an important hub for community health and development services. The General Superintendent of the East Africa District of the Methodist Church observed in his 1918 annual report the need for a healing ministry in Meru. In response to that report, the British Methodist Church approved the building of a 50-bed hospital in 1928. Construction was done in the next 2 years and the hospital was officially opened on July 15th 1930. The facility was given the name ‘Berresford Memorial Hospital’ in remembrance of Thomas Berresford, a young man who had planned to become a doctor but unfortunately died at the age of 22. The family donated the university fees for Thomas to the Methodist Church to build a hospital.

We have aptly given the main hospital driveway the name Berresford Avenue in honour of the Berresford family who have made a tremendous contribution to the medical ministry in Maua.
The need for training of health care workers was recognized early as a way of sustaining staffing in the health care ministry. A programme to train dressers was started in 1942 and this cadre was upgraded to nursing care staff later. The certificate programme of Enrolled Community Nurses was started in 1976 under the leadership Sister Meg Bailey.
The School of Nursing was approved for training of nurses at Diploma (KRCHN) level in 1996 and has become one of the best Nursing Schools in the country attaining near 100% pass rate every year. The School has now diversified its training programmes to include KRCHN, Health Information/Records management courses, and many others. It was renamed Methodist College of Health Sciences (MCHS) in March 2019.
The Hospital undertook a preventive health care approach from early on in its work. Initially, the midwife Sr Muriel Chalkley went into the community talking to the chiefs and various groups, begging mothers to come and deliver in the hospital. Some major achievements in the 1970s were the training of Community Health Workers and Traditional Birth Attendants. The Community Health Department (CHD) was established in 1976 under the leadership of Sister Meg Bailey.

In the last 4 decades, the hospital has added many other items to its list of services. This has included expanding the range of surgical procedures, specialized surgical procedures such as orthopaedic surgery by visiting specialists, eye care services by visiting ophthalmologists, optical services, Comprehensive Care Clinic & Palliative care, expanded laboratory services, X-ray services, visiting Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) and paediatric specialists, internal medicine, obstetric and gynaecology (OB/GYN) services, doctors internship, rotation for doctors from universities around the world and a private outpatient clinic for those who would like to consult a doctor by appointment.
Physical infrastructure has also been improved over the years. Through partnership with overseas works teams, the hospital has installed 2 water boreholes, a dependable water supply from the hills that feed a high-level water tank, fire hydrants and many buildings. The Advance Team continue to do valuable work in developing a hospital physical master plan.
In recent times, many other health care providers have come onto the scene around the hospital. These include public health facilities and private health care facilities. The hospital seeks to work with all these providers in partnership that would produce synergy and give the community good local comprehensive health care.
The strategic plan 2019 – 2024 has been developed at a time when the global community has adopted the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and re-launched primary health care (PHC) as the means to the attainment of SDG 3 on ‘healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all’. The Government of Kenya has launched the “Big Four Agenda” which includes universal health coverage that has the ambitious goal of ensuring that every Kenyan has access to affordable, quality health care. We believe that this noble goal will be achieved with government leadership that embraces partnership with the Church Health Services.

Vision Statement

All receive quality and compassionate healthcare in obedience of the Great commandment. (John 13:34)

Mission Statement

To serve as a leading Christian referral and training institution providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare that demonstrates the power of the gospel.

Motto

Sharing and caring.

Core Vales

1. God fearing - the central value and foundation of all that we do is a reverent fear of the Lord. Proverbs 9:10
2. Commitment - doing what we have agreed to do in our roles and making the best use of all our resources, including time.
3. Embracing professionalism- in areas within our hospital community and with our clients, partners and suppliers of goods and services.
4. Honesty - in all our dealings amongst staff and in the services we offer to our clients.
5. Integrity - promoting and encouraging integrity at individual level and as an organization.
6. Accountability - both through established systems, to one another and to our partners and clients.
7. Respect - we recognize diversity of opinions and deliberately endeavour to respect each other within established norms.
8. Teamwork - everyone’s contribution is important, and no individual can succeed alone.
9. Courage - acting boldly on our convictions based on information available to us for improving our services.

Leadership

Hospital Board

Chairman - Hospital Board
Rev. Joseph Ntombura Mwaine
Presiding Bishop

 

Board of Governors

1.	Rev Joseph Ntombura	- Presiding Bishop of Methodist Church in Kenya	Chairman
2.	Bishop Alice Mutuma	- Nyambene Synod Bishop	Vice - Chair
3.	Mrs Norah Nkwene	- Community Leader	Member
4.	Dr. Samuel Mwenda	- Secretary General of Christian Health Association	Member
5.	Mr. Scott Brown	- Businessman & Member of Friends of Maua, USA	Member
6.	Ms. Kathie Mann	- Global Mission Partner & Missions Team Coordinator	Member
7.	Mr. Justus Marete	- MMH CEO	Secretary
8.	Mrs. Susan Mwenda	- Chief Finance Officer, Meru Farmers Society	Member
9.	Mr. Hosea Mutembei	- Advocate	Member
10.	Mr. George Kimencu	- Retired KTDA Director	Member
11.	Mrs. Joyce Nkatha Gichunuku	- Retired High School Teacher	Member
12.	Mr. Mwenda Muthinja	- Businessman, Maua	Member
13.	Mr. Andrew Mutuma	- Managing Director-DHL, Kenya	Member
14.	Prof John Mungania	- Vice-Chancellor, Presbyterian University of East Africa	Member

Hospital Management Team

Chief Executive Officer

Mr Justus M Marete
The Strategic Plan for 2019 - 2024 has been built with the focus of enabling MMH to play a significant role in the national pursuit of universal health care coverage and increasing the impact of its Medical Ministry of healing in the community. The range of services offered and decisions to offer new services are informed by reports of the Methodist Church Synod Health Committee, recent reports on community needs and information available in the health services sector in the region.
However, we recognize that the most important resource that the hospital has are the existing staff of the hospital and those who will be invited to serve in the newly identified areas. We are therefore focusing on training and equipping staff with the required skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for offering excellent services.

Medical Officer in Charge

Dr. Shelmith Wangari Muthee is the Consultant General Surgeon at MMH. She obtained Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from University of Nairobi. She is a Fellow at the College of Surgeons East, Central and Southern Africa. She holds a specialist certificate in General Surgery from The Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (COSECSA/PAACS). Before joining Maua Methodist Hospital, she has worked at AIC Kijabe hospital, PCEA Kikuyu hospital, Nandi Hills hospital and Tenwek Mission Hospital.

Nursing Services Manager

Sr. Florence Ndinda Kimeu, BScN
Sr Florence is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Leadership. She has worked in various capacities as a ward-in-charge, Infection Control nurse, Deputy Nursing Director and Senior Tutor.
Her vision for nursing in Maua is to have a team of professional nurses providing excellent quality health care while sharing the Gospel of Christ through love and compassion.

Financial Controller

Mr. Ibrahim Kaniu Karanja holds an MBA in Strategic Management, Bachelor of Commerce in Finance. He is Certified Public Accountant of Kenya and a member of Institute of Certified Public Accountant of Kenya. He is tasked with management and coordinating the hospital accounting and finance functions, ensuring compliance with statutory, finance and accounting policies, business controls, budget, procedures and reporting to ensure that finance integrity and fiscal health of MMH is maintained.

Mission Partner

Dr. H Claire Smithson is a Palliative Care Consultant involved in education of all cadres of staff in HIV and Palliative Care management. Gained her M.B.B.S in Newcastle University, UK, D.T.M &H in Liverpool University, M.Pall from Edith Cowell University in Australia.
A Christian, conscientious and dedicated doctor with extensive experience in wide variety of clinical areas, administration, and handling of donor funds in the mission field. Currently heading the Palliative/HIV programme, in-charge of Pharmacy and assisting with developing training materials and teaching HIV and palliative care to health care professionals in Kenya.

Hospital Chaplain

Rev. Geoffrey Mugambi Kithera is a minister of Methodist Church in Kenya. He has Master’s degree from Seoul, South Korea. As the hospital chaplain, he deals with spiritual welfare of both the staff and the patients.

Internal Auditor

Mary Mukiri Mwiki has been in position for 11-years. Before this role, Mary was the Deputy Internal Auditor, Assistant Internal Auditor and worked in Finance Department. Mary is undertaking a Master’s degree in Strategic Management from Kenya Methodist University. She is a member of Institute of Certified Public Accountant in Kenya, (ICPAK)

Principal, Methodist College of Health Sciences (MCHS)

Mr. Leonard Mbaabu Kimwere has Master of Science in Health Systems Management. He originally trained in MMH. As the Principal Tutor, he is committed to seeing that MCHS provides the students with a well-rounded training experience coupled with character education and exposure to creativity and innovation to graduate confident, caring and responsible citizens to face global competition.

Community Strategy and Advancement Officer

Mr Stanley Gitari Imunya originally trained in MMH as an Enrolled Community Health Nurse and later obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Oklahoma City University.  Mr Gitari has a Master’s degree in Public Health from University of Ghana. Mr Gitari previously worked as the Community Health Coordinator.