Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital

Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital is a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya founded in 2015. It is the first dedicated public children's hospital in East and Central Africa^[1] and the second in Sub-Saharan Africa, after the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, which opened in 1956.

The hospital is the flagship project of Shoe4Africa, a New York-based charity focused on health and education in Eastern Africa. Construction cost an estimated two billion Kenyan shillings ^[2] and was partially funded by donations from celebrities, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Edwards, and Natalie Portman.^[3]

The Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital operates as a teaching hospital in partnership with Moi University, and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenya's second-largest national hospital, governs the Shoe4Africa Children's Hospital and the land it is built upon.^{[4] [5]} As of 2024, the hospital treats over 430 in- and out-patients daily. ^[6]

Construction began in 2013 and was completed on 12 August 2015. The hospital initially had 105 beds^[7] and was expanded to 150 beds by 2018.^[8]

Construction of a dedicated kitchen facility next to the children's hospital began in 2016 to provide nutrition for malnourished patients.^[9]

In 2018, a basketball court was added for patients and medical school students.^[8] The charity announced that a soccer pitch would follow to help children with rehabilitate,^[10] and in May 2019, an AstroTurf soccer pitch was opened. Later in the year, the Kuunga Mkono classrooms were added to the hospital, making it the first hospital in Africa with children's classrooms inside its complex.^[11]

In 2022, Shoe4Africa announced that it had treated its millionth patient.^[12]

Construction of the Harry J. Dyer Burns Unit, a planned 35-bed center for treating burns, began in December 2023.

Additionally, construction of the Shoe4Africa Juli Anne Perry Children's Cancer Hospital, a planned 152-bed pediatric cancer hospital to enhance the existing 30-bed ward space, started in January 2024.^[13] ,^[14] It will be located next to the children's facility.