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Nestled on a quiet hillside five kilometres from Bomet town, a medical marvel is set to transform heart care across Africa.
The four-storey AGC Tenwek Cardiothoracic Centre, sprawling across 3.5 acres and covering 400,000 square feet, is not only the largest facility of its kind in Kenya, but in all of sub-Saharan Africa.
The ultra-modern building, gleaming with architectural elegance, houses cutting-edge medical technology within its imposing walls.
From the outside, the structure impresses with its grandeur. But it’s what lies within that truly makes it exceptional: five major operating theatres, a minor surgery room, a catheterisation lab, endoscopy suites, exam rooms, radiology units, and an expansive education wing with simulation labs and conference halls.
“This was built to last a century. If we were going to build, we would think big and build big,” said Dr Russ White, the visionary behind the centre and a seasoned cardiothoracic surgeon who has served at Tenwek Hospital since 1997.
The journey to realise this dream was far from straightforward. The project began with a modest Sh64.7 million (US$500,000) donation from a group of cardiac surgeons in the US, barely enough to excavate the sloped site, previously a cow pasture. Then, funds ran dry. “I left it in God’s hands. I travelled, spoke, wrote letters and emails, all in search of more support,” Dr White recalled.
His prayers were answered in 2022 with a surprise phone call from the CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, pledging a staggering Sh3.8 billion (US$30 million) for the project.
Construction followed swiftly, taking three years to complete. The result is a state-of-the-art facility with 176 beds, 40 of them dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) beds, one of the highest ICU capacities in the region.
The rest serve operative and general wards, alongside examination rooms. The centre also houses numerous outpatient departments (OPDs) and radiology and diagnostic units.
More than just bricks and mortar, the AGC Tenwek Cardiothoracic Centre symbolises how ambition, faith, and innovation can combine to deliver world-class care in rural Africa.
For Dr White, the centre represents a dream that evolved over time. “I never envisioned something like this. For my first 12 years at Tenwek Hospital, we didn’t perform cardiothoracic work. I thought it was too technical, too expensive for a rural setting,” he explained.
In 2008, visiting US teams began training local doctors, planting the seeds of a homegrown cardiothoracic programme.
By 2014, Tenwek Hospital was independently performing adult cardiac surgeries.
Fellowship programme
The turning point came in 2018, when the hospital launched a fellowship training programme, and with it, the need for expanded space. “The design began on napkins at my dining table,” Dr White said.
That rough sketch eventually reached Engineering Ministries International and later Triad Architects, specialists in healthcare design. Just finalising the architectural plans cost $2 million.
Sustainability and safety are core elements of the centre’s design.
According to facility manager Bob Odhiambo, a massive 324.5-kilowatt solar system powers the centre, ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply for up to three hours during outages.
“Every inch of the rooftop is covered with solar panels. Power outages will never compromise a procedure,” he said.
The hospital also recycles and manages its water usage with a 500,000-litre rainwater harvesting tank and a dedicated water treatment plant. “We maintain water pressure at 10 bars across the facility, crucial for equipment like surgical cleaning machines,” Odhiambo added.
The operating theatres are equipped with hyper-filtration ventilation systems to eliminate airborne microorganisms and maintain positive air pressure, minimising infection risk.
Additionally, fireproof materials on the third floor provide up to three hours of evacuation time in emergencies.
Mobility within the facility is enhanced with heavy-duty lifts capable of transporting emergency care teams and patients, and for less critical moves, three golf carts and a car are available.
At the heart of this complex lies a chapel, designed in the shape of a flame—a nod to the hospital’s faith-based origins.
Cardiothoracic surgeons
The cardiothoracic centre also doubles as an academic institution. It currently graduates two board-certified cardiothoracic surgeons each year, with plans to increase that number to three. “When I came to Kenya, there was only one surgical residency programme producing just four surgeons annually. I wanted to change that,” said Dr White.
And change he has. Today, the centre is poised to handle up to 2,000 heart cases annually—a significant step towards reducing Kenya’s long cardiology waitlists.
“In a country where access to advanced heart care has long been limited to a handful of urban hospitals, this centre stands as a game-changer—an awe-inspiring example of what can happen when purpose meets perseverance,” Dr White said.
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