And this about the hospital itself:
“It is assumed, indeed believed, that if it fails at the Nairobi Hospital, then nothing can be done or, to put it another way, when all else fails, you have to go to the Nairobi Hospital. If you get to us alive, chances are you will survive.” Dr Mailu says that this belief about The Nairobi Hospital is firmly held and buttressed by those who have been at the hospital, “brought in when they were on the brink and came back to life” and their relatives. And that fits in well with the hospital’s motto Lux Tenebris which translates as Light in Darkness.
Those who have been wheeled into the wards after they were mauled by wild animals or had been involved in freak or tragic accidents and were in a state of darkness have seen light after treatment at the Nairobi Hospital.
And the motto has an ironic twist to it too.
The foundation stone for the Nairobi Hospital was laid on October 20, 1952. That is the same day the colonial state herded the leaders of the nationalist movement into prison and declared a State of Emergency. The stone was laid by the Governor, Sir Evelyn Baring, after he had sent the resisting Kenyans to jail. That was a dark day for Kenya, but the laying of the stone could be said to have lit a light in healthcare terms.
From the small facility of 57 years ago, The Nairobi Hospital is now a 14-ward, 302- bed facility, with Intensive Care and High Dependency units, Casualty and six theatres. Its 32-bed pediatric ward was opened recently and the aim is that the hospital catches them early so that they can stay with it throughout their life.