Critical Care & Anesthesiology

Critical care and anaesthesiology services at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) provide comprehensive perioperative, emergency, and intensive care support for patients requiring advanced life-sustaining interventions before, during, and after surgery. The specialty integrates anaesthesia care, critical care medicine, pain management, and emergency response to ensure patient safety and stability across all surgical and high-dependency care pathways.
Anaesthesiology at JOOTRH is central to the delivery of safe surgical care, focusing on pain prevention, sedation, and continuous monitoring of vital physiological functions during procedures. Anaesthesiologists play a key role in the operating theatre, ensuring patients are safely anaesthetized, closely monitored, and stabilized throughout surgical procedures. Beyond theatre-based care, the team is also actively involved in intensive care management, emergency resuscitation, and perioperative optimization of high-risk patients.
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at JOOTRH currently has a capacity of 13 beds, with 9 beds operational, providing critical care services to patients referred from across the region. The unit supports patients with life-threatening conditions requiring ventilatory support, cardiovascular stabilization, and continuous organ function monitoring. ICU services are delivered through a multidisciplinary team that includes anaesthesiologists, and specialized critical care nurses working collaboratively to manage complex and high-dependency cases.
The ICU is equipped with essential life-support systems including mechanical ventilators, cardiac monitors, infusion pumps, syringe pumps, suction machines, and oxygen delivery systems. These resources enable the management of respiratory failure, shock, severe infections, post-operative complications, and other critical conditions requiring continuous monitoring and advanced intervention.
Anaesthesiology services are closely integrated with ICU care and surgical services, ensuring seamless patient management across the perioperative continuum. Anaesthesiologists are actively involved in theatre sedation, ICU patient review, airway management, pain control, and stabilization of critically ill patients, reflecting the broad scope of the specialty in modern hospital care.
JOOTRH is progressively expanding its critical care capacity with a long-term target of 69 ICU beds aligning with national standards for tertiary and referral hospitals. This expansion is supported by ongoing development of specialized units, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Obama Children’s Hospital, which will significantly strengthen pediatric critical care services and reduce gaps in neonatal and child survival outcomes in the region.
Once fully operational, the expanded critical care system will provide integrated high-dependency services for adult, neonatal, and paediatric patients under one coordinated framework, improving access to life-saving care and reducing referrals outside the region.
Through strengthened anaesthesiology services, expanding ICU capacity, and the development of specialized critical care units, JOOTRH continues to enhance its ability to deliver safe surgery, advanced life support, and comprehensive critical care.