NATIONAL HOSPITAL COLLAPSES.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is set to loan Avenue Hospital KES 1.4 billion ($11.7 million) to fund a new wing at its Nairobi facility in Parklands and refinance existing debt.

The global financier said in disclosures that the proposed funding, which will be in form of senior debt, will also fund an expansion of Avenue’s clinics’ network and diagnostic capacity.

“The proposed IFC investment seeks to support Avenue Group Limited scale up its secondary and tertiary care offering through enhancements to its diagnostic capacity, expansion of its clinic network, the construction of a new hospital wing at Parklands, Nairobi, and refinance its existing short and long-term debt. The total project cost is estimated to be up to $13.4 million (Sh1.62 billionn). IFC will provide an A-loan of up to $11.7 million (KES 1.42 billion), and the remaining portion of the project will be funded with the group’s internally generated cash.” IFC in the disclosures.

Avenue Hospital’s expansion project comes five years after it opened a seven-floor, 140-bed complex that enabled it to offer improved secondary and tertiary health care services, including dialysis, intensive care, advanced laboratory, physiotherapy, and radiology services, while also providing additional wards and operating theatres.

It follows a trend of expansion by private hospitals in Kenya, which are positioning themselves to tap into higher demand for quality health care from a growing population of middle-income earners.

By Kenyan wall street