The Karen Hospital is a private, multi-specialty hospital located in the

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

suburb of

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, Kenya's capital city. The hospital has an in-patient bed capacity of 102.

Location

The hospital is located in the suburb of Karen off of

Langata Lang'ata is a predominantly middle-class residential suburb of Nairobi in Kenya. The suburb consists of many smaller housing developments, referred to as estates. They include Nairobi Dam, Otiende, Southlands, Ngei, Jambo estate, Onyonka, Mad ...

road, approximately , southwest of the city's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

. The geographical coordinates of this hospital are: 01°20'10.0"S, 36°43'34.0"E (Latitude:-1.336111; Longitude:36.726111).

Overview

The hospital offers several specialized services in the areas of internal medicine, pediatrics and surgery, including: (i) Wellness Programs (ii) Day Surgery (iii) Wound Care (iv) Dental Services (v) Cardiac Services (vi) General Surgery (vii) Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery (viii) Gastroenterology (ix) Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) services (x) Paediatrics, among others. The Kenya Ministry of Health classifies the hospital as a "Level 6" facility on account of the multitude and complexity of services on offer and due to the fact that the hospital serves as a teaching facility.

History

Karen Hospital was co-founded by a Kenyan medical couple one of whom is Dr.

Betty Gikonyo Betty Muthoni Gikonyo (born 27 May 1950) is a Kenyan medical entrepreneur, pediatric cardiologist and one of the country's best known healthcare professionals. She has been featured on CNN's African Voices and the BBC's Africa Business Report. G ...

, a pediatric cardiologist, who is one of the 13 female doctors (8 African and 5 Caucasians), to graduate with the

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United K ...

(MBChB) from the Nairobi University School of Medicine in 1975. The other member of the couple is her husband, Dr. Daniel Gikonyo an adult cardiologist, whose practice is based at the hospital. Karen Hospital cost US$14 million to build, funded with an US$8 million mortgage from

Kenya Commercial Bank KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. It is licensed as a commercial bank, by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator. The bank has also been running Agency banking mode ...

. For the first 14 years, Betty Gikonyo served as the hospital's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO). In 2020 she transitioned to serving as the hospital's

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

, making room for her daughter, Juliet Gikonyo Nyaga, a public health specialist, to assume the role of CEO.

Governance

, the hospital is governed by a nine-person

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. The list below names the members of the board. # Betty Muthoni Gikonyo:

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

# Daniel Gikonyo: Director # Juliet Gikonyo Nyaga:

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

# Anthony Gikonyo: Medical Director # Sheila Macharia: Director, Chair Board HR Committee # Timothy Kabiru: Director, Chair Board Finance & Procurement Committee # Michael Kimani: Director, Chair Board Audit & Risk Committee # Ngugi Mwangi: Director # Robinson Mumenya: Director, Chair Board Medical Advisory Committee.

References

External links