Implementing strategic planning in private health institutions in Kenya

Abstract

Most private health institutions in Kenya operate according to policy framework of the ministry of Health’s strategic plan. Individual Trust and Private Hospitals are expected to develop plans as to how they will implement the directions from either the ministry or their own strategic plan or both. Like public health sector, private health sector has experienced moments of congestions rendering its employees inefficient in delivering services. This research sought to find out the challenges faced by private health institutions in implementing strategic plans. Data was collected from 138 employees. Data was obtained using structured questionnaires and interview schedules. The research utilized the Case study design. The findings showed that private health sector in Kenya face a lot of challenges in implementing strategic planning. Among these are: financial constraints, high staff turnover, overdependence syndrome among the clients, lack of © Bengat, Tubey & Kurgat Licensed under Creative Common Page 2 modern technology, resistance at the implementation stage and poor infrastructure which have impacted negatively on employees’ performance. The findings also revealed that implementing such plans is a difficult task in the presence of few and demotivated workforce and little financial and technological resources. These are the issues that should be addressed in strategic planning implementation. The findings indicated that if hospitals put in place a proper strategic plan, it will help ease such congestions and improve efficiency, which can yield tremendous benefit for the entire sector.