Kenya is a large country with a very variable demographic, alternating between densely populated areas and semi-desert areas, so providing quality hospital care in the most remote areas is a vital challenge for local authorities.
Thus, the Kenyan Ministry of Health decided to renovate 98 hospitals by incorporating the most advanced technologies, for which it contacted GE for the renovation of its entire health infrastructure.
The agreement signed between GE and Kenya had a long-term, global scope, involving several GE divisions in the project: GGO, GE Capital, GE Healthcare, and GE Critical Power, to ensure its success. GE financed the project and facilities under a seven-year contract, committing to maintain the medical equipment in working order at all times.
GE Industrial Solutions participated in the project by installing uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems in all the hospitals, located in Nairobi, Nyeri, Eldoret, Kisii, Kisumu, and Mombasa, including transformers, surge suppression kits, and voltage stabilization kits. Each UPS system is installed in one cabinet, the battery in another, and the stabilizing accessories in a third. A total of 395 UPS units were installed: 195 three-phase units of the LP 10-11 range for mammography systems, 94 three-phase units of the SG80 PUREPULSE range and 6 units of the SG100 PUREPULSE range in the X-ray units (all of them with their corresponding 295 voltage stabilizer kits) and 100 single-phase units of the VH1500 range for Ultra Sound systems.
To monitor the operation of the UPS systems, GE's iUPSGuard solution was installed, which allows remote management of the systems not only from Kenya, but also from the Center of Excellence in Switzerland.
iUPSGuard provides detailed and up-to-date information on UPS operation via the web, including configuration, internal alarms, and operating conditions; it sends alarm or incident notifications via email or SMS, enabling users or GE technicians to make timely decisions regarding operational crises. Furthermore, its data collection and analysis capabilities improve diagnostic reliability, reducing response time.
Under the collaboration agreement between the Government of Kenya and GE, one local product manager and two technicians were hired who are responsible for the maintenance of the
Hospital facilities were maintained for the seven-year duration of the contract, and a training center was established to enable users to operate independently in the future. Furthermore, to reduce response time in case of incidents, three local warehouses stocked with spare parts were implemented.
