Setting Up a New Clinic in Kenya: What to Buy First

Opening a clinic is expensive, and the equipment list can look endless. After supplying dozens of startups around Nairobi, here is the order we suggest buying in.

Start with the room itself. An examination couch or a single crank bed, a ward screen for privacy, and a good light. Patients judge a clinic in the first thirty seconds, and these three items do most of that work. Budget around KSh 40,000 for the set.

Next comes diagnosis. A reliable BP machine, a thermometer, a stethoscope and a glucometer cover the vital signs that walk through the door every day. You do not need the most expensive options on day one, but do not buy the cheapest either. A mid range BP monitor that reads consistently beats a premium one you cannot afford to replace.

Then infection control, and this is where new clinics cut corners they should not. A tabletop autoclave, colour coded waste bins and a steady supply of gloves, swabs and gauze. County health inspectors check waste segregation, so get the red, yellow and black bins from the start.

Everything else can wait until the patient load justifies it. Buy the suction machine when you start doing procedures. Buy the second bed when the first one is busy.

If you are working on a list right now, call us. We will go through it line by line and tell you honestly what can wait.