23/12/2025
As this year comes to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate Dr Peter Okoth as he retires from public service this month.
When Dr Okoth was appointed CEO of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, he convinced me—despite my strong desire to remain purely clinical—to take up the role of Director of Clinical Services and join him in pursuing a larger vision.
Dr Okoth sold me a vision: transforming JOOTRH into a Level 6 hospital. I later came to appreciate that this vision was firmly anchored in the Governor’s manifesto. It was not abstract or rhetorical; it was deliberate, structured, and deeply systems-oriented.
Crucially, the original documents and justifications for elevating JOOTRH to Level 6 were written by Dr Okoth himself. Nearly every major document that emerged and used in the process of autonomization has been a refinement or evolution of that foundational work.
Together with him and Dr Dedan Opondo, we spent many scheduled meeting days in a hotel thinking deeply about clinical governance—studying and comparing models from South Africa, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital, and the Netherlands. Later, working with Dr Iddah Kelly and Joshua Okise, we used the outcome of those meetings to draft the very first clinical governance structure for JOOTRH. That framework remains the backbone upon which much of what followed has been built.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Okoth took a bold and consequential risk. He redirected available COVID funds to expand bed capacity by adding another floor to the old hospital building. He personally designed the hospital’s new facelift with glass facade and oversaw the cabro works that fundamentally changed JOOTRH’s outlook and institutional identity.
Under his leadership, we made a deliberate decision to position JOOTRH as a surgically oriented hospital. When I was later appointed Chief Officer, I followed through on this shared vision by declaring county sponsorship for master’s training in urology, cardiothoracic surgery, gynaecologic oncology, orthopaedic surgery, and neurosurgery—and releasing all eligible doctors to pursue this training. When we see the emergence of urological and cardio thoracic surgeries, we are elated.
We also shared a strong conviction against one-off medical camps. Dr Okoth played a central role in crafting the Kisumu Neurosurgery Initiative, through which neurosurgeons visit every quarter. This program has become one of the most impactful interventions in the county—bringing sustained specialist services, skills transfer, and continuity of care to Kisumu. Around the same period, we initiated the University of Pittsburgh partnership, which is now taking off, with laparoscopic training and structured surgical camps beginning in the coming year.
Later, when I served as Chief Officer, I reused the same original Level 6 framework—together with Dr Dicken—to design a formal consultancy for the transformation of JOOTRH to full Level 6 status. The consultancy was intended to assess the hospital’s “software” components: human resources, financial systems, governance, workflows, and processes, and to provide a structured roadmap for transformation. That process ultimately contributed to JOOTRH achieving KEPH Level 6 status under Dr Rae’s leadership, and to the identification of Dr Lesiyampe to implement the remaining phase toward parastatal status.
It is in moments like these that one appreciates a timeless truth: success truly has many fathers.
They may not know.
They may forget.
But you did your part to lay foundation for a system that will outlive us.
Thank you, Dr Okoth, for your service and for the courage to think long-term.
