Trust, not technology, bonds patients and providers

“At Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures (J&J Impact Ventures), a fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, we are committed to transforming health systems and driving equitable healthcare by not just investing in a technology, service or delivery mechanism, but also the people behind them who have demonstrated interest and commitment to building trust into their market-driven solutions. This is key to our investment philosophy and why we put capital behind enterprises like Penda Health and work with organizations like Village Capital to fund projects that strengthen patient trust.

Penda Health is a tech-enabled network of health facilities across three counties (Nairobi, Kiambu & Kajiado) in Kenya and led by Stephanie Koczela, a passionate entrepreneur who puts patients at the heart of their mission. As a signatory of the Ethical Principles in Health Care (EPiHC), Penda Health has adopted 10 fundamental principles designed to promote ethical decision-making and behaviours that build transparent, trustworthy and resilient health systems. It has become one of the largest outpatient health care providers in East Africa, owing in large part to their focus on relationships. Their success stands upon a foundation of trust they have built externally with their stakeholders in the health sector and internally with staff at their facilities.”

By impactalpha.com

Health Care Africa

The wide smile and easy demeanor of Stephanie Koczela is quite disarming. However, her drive, passion and determination to change the face of healthcare in some of Nairobi’s highly populated, low-income areas shines through, as you engage with her and meet her teams at the company’s medical centres around Nairobi.

We meet for the first time with Stephanie at her company’s head office, located not far from Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, and the discussions start in earnest about Penda Health – the firm she helped co-found and has been running since 2012 – and many other issues of the time, such as the raging Covid-19 pandemic.

Attentive and engaging, Stephanie comes out as a leader who is truly passionate about the important role a functional healthcare system can contribute to better the lives of individuals and families in Kenya.

Having spent most of her early years in social impact projects in developing countries and Kenya in particular, Stephanie clearly embodies her company Penda Health’s mantra of providing healthcare that each patient can trust, with love at the core of each team member at the company, beginning with herself.