At Kilifi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya, a reliable internet connection is making a real difference for patients, staff, and students alike. Once plagued by slow, unreliable access, the hospital is now part of a growing network of institutions benefiting from high-speed broadband through KENET, Kenya’s national research and education network. The initiative connects institutions located within 10 kilometres of a university or other anchor site—like nearby Pwani University—creating what KENET calls “broadband islands.
The Kilifi Teaching and Referral Hospital is one of 20 beneficiary institutions so far, and has Pwani University as the anchor site institution.
The internet is being used in the transformation of both learning, research and working environments. Students attached to the hospital have access too.
Rose Nazingombo, 2nd year student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University, is an attaché at the hospital. She has used the internet to conduct research on medical terminologies and other assignments. Highlighting the benefits of internet connectivity, she emphasizes how blended learning has become easier:
“I can comfortably attend online classes virtually eliminating the necessity for physical presence for learning to happen,” notes Rose.
From slow to fast and stable internet
In addition to high-speed connectivity, KENET has set up basic campus Wi-Fi appropriate locations and installed a stable solar power inverter for the ICT equipment. This is a part of the initiative which aims to provide safe and secure internet.
Rehema Wani, Health Records and Information officer at the hospital, speaks about how her work has been made more efficient with reliable internet:
“Before the KENET connectivity, the internet was terribly slow with extended downtime periods posing a challenge as the nature of the work is highly reliant on the internet. There has been significant improvement as the internet is fast, stable, and reliable daily. The work has been easier as more health records work can be done over a period, and reports upload can be done easily too,” highlights Rehema.
Enabling telemedicine
At the Kilifi Teaching and Referral Hospital, ICT Officer Jemimah Idzah Mbaru emphasises the crucial role played of connectivity:
“The internet infrastructure before was unreliable hindering the digitization of tools and processes happening at the hospital. There has been massive improvement with the KENET connectivity, both students and staff can conduct studies and work with the internet’s reliability and stability. The internet has improved the projects being conducted at the hospital. The medical teams can now fully utilize their telemedicine and conferencing tools with ease. Personally, I can now conduct research about cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and enroll for short courses online to further improve the skills gained with no cost incurred compared to previously when this had to be done using bundles which were costly,” notes Mbaru.
The ”broadband islands” are a part of the KENET initiative Building Opportunities/ Leveraging Technologies (BOLT). The initiative is set to bridge the digital divide in Kenya. To illustrate, according to the UNESCO Report on Digital Connectivity in Education only 38 % of schools in Kenya are connected to the internet.
The transformation at Kilifi Teaching and Referral Hospital is just one example of how KENET’s broadband islands are bridging the digital divide across Kenya. By extending fast, reliable internet beyond university campuses to nearby institutions, the initiative is helping to create more equitable access to education, healthcare, and opportunity. As part of the broader Building Opportunities/Leveraging Technologies (BOLT) program, these connections are not just about infrastructure—they’re about enabling people to learn, work, and innovate in ways that weren’t possible before.
The text is inspired by the article “Kilifi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s digital transformation journey with KENET’s BOLT project” at the KENET website.
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