Tenwek Hospital

Tenwek Hospital, one of the largest Protestant mission hospitals in Kenya, began as a humble clinic in 1935. The clinic’s first staff member was registered nurse Gertrude Shryock. However, Tenwek’s first doctor, deceased WGM missionary Dr. Ernie Steury, did not arrive for another 22 years. During her first year at the clinic, Miss Shryock wrote the following description of Tenwek’s then primitive facilities, “I have a tiny building six-by-eight and just high enough to stand erect in the place where I do the dispensing and diagnosing for the clinic patients."

Tenwek, working under the motto “We treat, Jesus heals,” is located in rural Kenya, 140 miles west of Nairobi, in the fertile highlands of the Bomet district. In addition to being the primary hospital for the area’s 1 million people, it is also a referral hospital that receives patients from other parts of the country. Tenwek’s staff, which now totals 500 employees, treats more than 10,000 inpatients and 70,000 outpatients each year. Approximately 3,000 major surgeries and 2,500 deliveries are also performed at Tenwek each year. In addition, several thousand people find Christ as Savior each year, and many more are impacted through Tenwek’s compassionate ministries and training programs.

“Tenwek Hospital is one of the greatest evangelistic outreaches I know of anywhere in the world today,” stated Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse.

Additional Programs
As reflected in the hospital’s mission statement, the goal of Tenwek’s staff is to meet the needs of the whole man: “Tenwek Hospital is a Christian community committed to excellence in compassionate healthcare, spiritual ministry, and training for service.” These needs are met through the Tenwek School of Nursing, the L. Nelson Bell Chaplaincy School, the medical intern training program, and the Community Health and Development Department of Tenwek. Another training program, INFAMED (a family practice residency program), is also in the planning stage.

The Tenwek School of Nursing has been training qualified nurses since 1987. In 1999, it graduated its first class of nurses at the registered level. The school has a well-earned reputation as one of the best nursing schools in the country, and its graduates are the principal source of quality nurses for Tenwek.

The L. Nelson Bell Chaplaincy School trains hospital chaplains from across Africa and has also had the privilege of training several military chaplains since it opened in 1991.

In 1995, Tenwek Hospital was recognized by the government of Kenya as one of the official sites for training medical interns. This program, when combined with the family practice residency program (INFAMED), will provide opportunities to train Christian doctors who can help meet the healthcare needs of rural Kenyans. Tenwek will be one of the training sites for the residency program in partnership with Moi University (Eldoret, Kenya). A six-unit housing complex for the doctors in the residency program has recently been completed, and missionaries are working actively to develop the program’s curriculum.

The Community Health and Development Department of Tenwek moves Tenwek’s ministry outside the hospital walls. The health program has trained 1,000 volunteer health workers, who, in addition to teaching their friends and neighbors, help the staff provide more than 70,000 immunizations each year. The development program helps local communities meet their identified needs, such as collecting rainwater, ministering to widows, and obtaining small-scale business loans. The department’s mission is to serve Christ by promoting change through primary healthcare and appropriate development within needy communities.

The hospital also offers health services in the areas of outpatient care, maternal/child healthcare, intensive care and recovery, maternity/nursery care, surgery, pediatrics, infectious disease, orthopedics, dental care, eye care, pharmacy services, X-ray/ultrasound services, laboratory services, physical therapy, esophageal cancer research, spiritual care, social work, and emergency care. In the future, Tenwek also plans to offer hospice care for the terminally ill.

Affiliation
Tenwek is supervised by World Gospel Mission and the Africa Gospel Church. Since 1959, the hospital has been under the day-to-day management of a missionary. However, in July 2001, the hospital hit one of its most important milestones as Tenwek’s board appointed Steven Mutai as its first Kenyan executive officer.

Click this link to view a speaker outline for Tenwek Hospital.