INFLUENCE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP ON PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN NAIROBI COUNTY KENYA

Abstract

Public hospitals in Nairobi County ought to operate under robust strategic leadership, implementation. Strategic leadership practices should account for up to 82.6% of performance variation in public hospitals. However, the current situation of Nairobi County's public hospitals shows serious underlying and operational deficiencies that have a detrimental impact on performance. The aim of this research was to determine how strategic leadership influenced Nairobi County, Kenya's public hospitals' performance. The Kotter's Eight-Step Change Model serves as the study's theoretical cornerstone. The study used a mixed-method convergent parallel design and a pragmatist approach to inquiry. Five directors and 7,197 employees from Kenyatta National Hospital, Mbagathi Hospital, Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, and Mathari National & Teaching Hospitals made up the target population. There were 384 responders in the sample. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29 was used to analyze descriptive data, and frequencies and percentages were displayed. The substantial relationship between strategic leadership and hospital performance emphasizes how important it is for performance improvement. The positive and statistically significant path coefficient for strategic leadership confirmed the importance of strategic leadership in influencing hospital performance. Through the promotion of creativity, versatility, creative thinking, strategy collaborative policy development, efficiency, and fair healthcare, strategic leadership in Nairobi County enhances the performance of public hospitals. The study came to the conclusion that long-term organizational viability depends on strategic leadership. In order to enhance hospital performance and match policies with healthcare improvement objectives, the research suggested that Nairobi County's public hospitals make an investment in ongoing leadership training that emphasizes conceptualization, making decisions, and managing changes.