May 26, 2026
Two maternity beds. No inpatient ward. And during power outages, health workers sometimes had to rely on lanterns.
For years, this was the reality at Leshuta Dispensary, a Level 2 facility serving Leshuta and surrounding villages. It served the community with the little it had, but a Level 2 dispensary can only do so much.
When mothers needed specialised attention, children required diagnostic tests, or an emergency could not be managed locally, the limitations were felt quickly. The nearest alternative, Naikara Health Centre, is approximately 25 kilometres away; a difficult journey, particularly on poor roads and during an emergency.
This is important because it is easy to interpret the limited use of modern healthcare in some Maa communities as a rejection of it. But healthcare decisions are shaped by access, trust and experience. When appropriate care is far away, or the nearest facility is under-equipped, seeking treatment is not always a simple choice. Good healthcare should not ask people to abandon who they are. It should meet them with respect while making safe, modern care easier to access and trust. The upgrade of Leshuta Dispensary into a Level 3 hospital is an important step in that direction.
The KSh 64 million project, fully funded by the M-PESA Foundation and implemented in partnership with the County Government of Narok and the Soipan Tuya Foundation, will significantly expand the facility’s capacity.
The upgraded hospital will include an outpatient department, a modern maternity wing with additional delivery beds, a postpartum ward accommodating approximately six to ten mothers, consultation and treatment rooms, laboratory services and a pharmacy.
It will also have neonatal resuscitation equipment and improved water, power and medical-waste systems.
Together, these improvements will allow the facility to diagnose, treat and monitor more patients closer to home.
The journey did not begin with this investment. Years ago, during one of her visits to Leshuta as County Woman Representative, Hon. Soipan Tuya found the maternity wing operating from a single room and helped mobilise KSh 1 million to improve the facility. It was an important intervention, but the community’s healthcare needs continued to grow.
Today, Leshuta is climbing to the next level, from a dispensary that worked within significant constraints to a hospital with the capacity to provide more comprehensive care.
For the partners supporting this project, the investment is not simply in buildings and equipment. It is in a health system that people can reach, rely on and gradually build greater trust in.
This is the change Leshuta has waited for: not a promise that better healthcare will be available somewhere else, but a hospital taking shape at home.
