Mombasa County signed short‑term contracts for 447 additional health workers after the number of patients attending public facilities rose fourfold following the October introduction of free medical services in memory of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the extra staff were recruited to cope with the sharp increase in demand and praised the county’s “excellent response” to the surge.

He noted that many patients were travelling from outside Mombasa, adding pressure to county facilities.

While no complaints have been recorded about the free‑care programme, the rapid rise in attendance exposed shortages in registration equipment at several facilities.

To address the equipment gap, the county is in talks with its digital health team to increase the number of patient‑registration devices available at health centres.

The governor also said medicine suppliers have been asked to raise orders so that drug stocks remain sufficient as patient numbers continue to climb.

He expects the surge in patient numbers to ease within the next two days and has requested each facility to submit detailed needs, which will guide the next phase of the county’s response.

Mombasa will later assess whether any of the 447 short‑term positions should be converted into longer‑term contracts, depending on facility‑specific needs and the overall assessment of the additional workforce.

The governor linked the county’s ability to manage the surge to earlier health‑system reforms under the Social Health Authority, arguing that investment in universal health coverage was essential for handling such spikes in demand.