Change Management in the Devolved Public Health Care Services in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Today's 21st-century organizations are impinged by continuous innovation, complex technology and globalization, which has created a new norm of constant change. Thus, differing environmental challenges pressure organizations to seek strategies to enable their survival and sustainability. Various change management methods have been developed to help organizations manage change at the operational or strategic level to handle the increased volume of change. This study sought to establish change management as practiced in the devolved public healthcare services in Kisumu County due to its devolved functions. Devolved health services in Kisumu County were the focus of this research. Its goals included identifying the change management strategies implemented and determining the associated obstacles of managing change in these services. Interview guidelines were used to obtain primary data through a case design methodology. Content analysis was used to sift through in-depth replies from interviews about change management that formed the study's primary data. According to the research results, training and communication, creating a positive work environment, employee participation and involvement, and gathering and analyzing feedback were the essential change management practices adopted by the devolved public healthcare services in Kisumu County. The study recommended that the devolved healthcare services in Kisumu County should be flexible and that all employees and stakeholders should be involved in the change management process. The study recommended enacting relevant policies and human resource strategies to enable effective human resource management in the healthcare segment. Devolution of healthcare services could only be successful with fixing the problems of late and insufficient funding for the county