Hospital Development in Kenya: Planning Around SHA, Levels of Care and Local Operating Conditions
November 2, 2026Hospital Design That Works: Patient Flow, Staff Wellbeing, Safety and Room to Grow
November 4, 2026
Planning a Specialist Hospital or Centre of Excellence: Volume, Talent, Technology and Referrals
A specialist hospital lives or dies on referral volume, clinical leadership and the right technology. This guide covers how to test demand, recruit talent before design freeze, plan high-specification spaces, and build a centre whose outcomes earn the title “centre of excellence”.
class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-7521" alt="" srcset="https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14.png 500w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-300x300.png 300w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-150x150.png 150w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-75x75.png 75w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-480x480.png 480w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-24x24.png 24w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-36x36.png 36w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-14-48x48.png 48w" sizes="(max-width:767px) 480px, 500px" /> Dr. Vishal Jadhav · Founder, Hospertz
31 October 2026 3 min read
class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-7530" alt="" srcset="https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured.webp 1200w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-300x158.webp 300w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-1024x538.webp 1024w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-768x403.webp 768w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-143x75.webp 143w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-480x252.webp 480w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-24x13.webp 24w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-36x19.webp 36w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-featured-48x25.webp 48w" sizes="(max-width:767px) 480px, (max-width:1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /> In this article
- A centre of excellence is earned through volume, multidisciplinary teams and measured outcomes — not a name on a building.
- Specialist demand depends on referral networks, so map referrers and payers before sizing the facility.
- Recruit the lead clinicians before design freeze; they define the rooms, the equipment and the pathways.
- Specialist technology brings heavy structural, shielding, power and cooling requirements that must be designed in.
- Phase the build-up of services so quality is proven before complexity increases.
Specialist hospitals and centres of excellence — for cardiac care, cancer, renal services, orthopaedics, mental health, rehabilitation or women’s and children’s care — can transform access in a region. They also concentrate risk. Capital costs per bed are high, the talent pool is small, and the facility depends on patients being referred from a wider network.
Planning them well means answering four questions in order: is there enough volume, who will lead the clinical service, what technology does it truly need, and how will quality be proven?
What “centre of excellence” should mean
The term is used loosely. In planning terms, we recommend reserving it for a service that has: enough volume for teams to maintain skills; a multidisciplinary model (for example, tumour boards in oncology or heart teams in cardiac care); protocols and outcomes that are measured and published internally; and links to training and, where possible, research. These criteria are Hospertz’s planning recommendation rather than a regulatory definition — but they are what referrers and payers tend to look for.
Test demand through the referral network
Specialist demand rarely walks in; it is referred. Map the hospitals and clinicians who would refer, the patients currently travelling elsewhere for treatment, and who pays for those episodes. Payer structure can be decisive. In Kenya, for example, the Social Health Insurance Act created a separate Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund alongside the main funds (SHI Act 2023). In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health has used PPPs for specialised services, including awarding the operation of the SABIC Mental Health Hospital in Riyadh in June 2026 (Saudi MOH).
class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-7529" alt="" srcset="https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1.webp 1600w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-1536x864.webp 1536w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-133x75.webp 133w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-1200x675.webp 1200w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-480x270.webp 480w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-24x14.webp 24w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-36x20.webp 36w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-1-48x27.webp 48w" sizes="(max-width:767px) 480px, (max-width:1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /> Multidisciplinary teams are the core of a genuine centre of excellence.
Recruit clinical leadership before design freeze
The lead clinicians define how patients flow, which rooms are needed, what equipment is specified and how the service grows. If they are hired after the building is designed, expensive change follows. Check professional registration routes early: in Kenya, KMPDC publishes guidelines on the specialties and sub-specialties it recognises (KMPDC); in the Gulf, each regulator licenses professionals separately. Budget for recruitment lead times and retention, particularly for nurses and technologists with specialist training.
Specialist technology changes the building
High-end equipment shapes structure and engineering:
- Radiotherapy: shielded bunkers with very thick walls and careful siting, plus radiation regulatory approvals
- Cardiac catheterisation and hybrid theatres: ceiling-mounted equipment, larger rooms, high-specification ventilation
- MRI and CT: floor loading, magnetic shielding, quench routes, cooling and access for delivery and replacement
- Dialysis: water treatment plant and distribution loops
- Mental health: ligature-resistant design, safe outdoor space and therapeutic environments
Use a structured needs assessment for medical devices to justify each major item against expected volume and local service support.
Share your plan, budget and timeline for a first discussion. [Confirm Hospertz service or capability]
Quality and accreditation from day one
Accreditation signals quality to referrers and payers. In Saudi Arabia, CBAHI accreditation is mandatory and linked to hospital licence renewal (PMC review); elsewhere, international or national accreditation may be voluntary but commercially important. Build the quality system — indicators, incident reporting, clinical audit, credentialling — into commissioning, so that outcome data starts accumulating from the first patient.
Hospertz tipAgree your outcome indicators with the lead clinicians before opening and set up the data collection in the HIS from day one. A centre that can show credible outcomes after its first year attracts referrals; one that starts measuring later has nothing to show.
class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-7528" alt="" srcset="https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2.webp 1600w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-1536x864.webp 1536w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-133x75.webp 133w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-1200x675.webp 1200w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-480x270.webp 480w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-24x14.webp 24w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-36x20.webp 36w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/specialist-hospital-centre-of-excellence-planning-2-48x27.webp 48w" sizes="(max-width:767px) 480px, (max-width:1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /> Specialist services such as radiotherapy dictate structure, siting and approvals.
Phase complexity deliberately
Many successful specialist centres open with a defined core — outpatient clinics, diagnostics and day procedures — then add complex interventions, inpatient capacity and critical care as volumes and teams mature. Designing the building for that growth from day one (shell space, plant capacity, expansion zones) avoids disruption later.
| Planning checkpoint | Evidence to have in hand |
|---|---|
| Demand | Referral map, current outward travel, payer coverage |
| Leadership | Named clinical leads engaged before design freeze |
| Technology | Needs-assessed equipment list with local service support |
| Building | Structure, shielding, MEP and expansion designed for the equipment |
| Quality | Indicators, accreditation route and data collection ready at opening |
[Confirm Hospertz service or capability]: list any specialist-facility services Hospertz offers before publishing.
Sources and notes
- Social Health Insurance Act No. 16 of 2023 (WHO legal repository copy)
- Saudi Ministry of Health — SABIC Mental Health Hospital operations awarded under PPP (June 2026)
- KMPDC — publications, rules and guidelines (incl. recognised specialties)
- WHO Medical device technical series — Needs assessment for medical devices
- PMC — CBAHI accreditation: mandatory status and link to licence renewal (review)
Assumptions and recommendations: The definition of a centre of excellence, phasing approach and checkpoints are Hospertz's planning recommendations. Equipment-related approvals vary by country.
Information is general guidance, not legal, regulatory or investment advice. Last reviewed: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a hospital a centre of excellence?
There is no single legal definition. In practice, referrers and payers look for sufficient case volume, multidisciplinary teams, clear protocols, measured outcomes and links to training or research.
How do you assess demand for a specialist hospital?
Map referral sources, patients currently travelling elsewhere for the service, epidemiology in the wider region and who pays for those treatments. Specialist volume depends on the referral network more than on the immediate catchment.
When should specialist clinicians be recruited?
Before design freeze. Lead clinicians shape the pathways, rooms and equipment; recruiting them after the design is fixed usually leads to costly changes.
What building requirements do specialist services add?
Examples include radiation shielding for radiotherapy, high floor loading and shielding for MRI, ceiling-mounted equipment for cath labs and hybrid theatres, water treatment for dialysis, and ligature-resistant design for mental health units.
Is accreditation required for specialist hospitals?
It depends on the country. In Saudi Arabia, CBAHI accreditation is mandatory and linked to hospital licence renewal. Elsewhere it may be voluntary, though often commercially important for referrals and insurer contracts.
class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-7522" alt="" srcset="https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15.png 500w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-300x300.png 300w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-150x150.png 150w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-75x75.png 75w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-480x480.png 480w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-24x24.png 24w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-36x36.png 36w, https://www.hospertz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/vishal-Jadhav-15-48x48.png 48w" sizes="(max-width:767px) 480px, 500px" /> Founder and Director of Hospertz. After a career in medicine, Dr. Vishal moved into corporate healthcare and now leads a team of healthcare architects, NABH consultants and project managers who plan and build hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres across India.
Related guides
Turn this guide into a plan for your hospital.
Discuss feasibility, planning, budget and timelines with the Hospertz team. [Confirm Hospertz service or capability]
