Staff stand in front of St. Paul's new maternal and child health ward.
In 2005, in collaboration with individuals who would later found Common Hope for Health, UCRC established St. Paul’s Health Center (SPHC) with the vision of integrating primary health care delivery with the full set of services that UCRC provides to its clients. The mission of St. Paul’s Health Centre is to promote spiritual, mental, social and physical well-being through prevention of disease, care for the sick, support for the needy and advocacy for the vulnerable. Prevention, care, support and advocacy: this broad mandate drives St. Paul’s Health Center to provide comprehensive, high-quality services to all individuals, irrespective of their ability to pay.
St. Paul’s Health Center is officially registered with the Kenyan Ministry of Health as an outpatient health centre specializing in primary health care, maternal and child health, community outreach and HIV services. St. Paul’s currently treats 800 outpatients per month, performs essential laboratory diagnostics, provides antenatal care, performs deliveries, conducts daily mobile clinics in remote villages and promotes healthy behavior and prevention.
Through St. Paul’s, UCRC provides comprehensive care, treatment and support to 350 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs), with 94 individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). True to its community-based origins, the HIV program is rooted in the community. In accordance with the GIPA principle, the clients of the HIV program are integrally involved: they maintain a support group led by four officers, and together they organize meetings and festivals to promote HIV prevention and positive living with HIV. UCRC also integrates its HIV services with its other programs (agricultural training, micro loans, early childhood development), thus providing a comprehensive, one-stop solution for PLHAs who wish to improve their livelihoods.