In 2017, I was a young student nurse in Kenya, grappling with the stark realities of our national healthcare system. I saw families drained financially and emotionally by long-term hospital stays for their loved ones. The pain was not just in the illness but in the struggle for dignity and care. This is where Bena Care began—from a deep conviction that healthcare could be more compassionate, more accessible.
A perspective by Naom Monari, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bena Care
Bena Care builds a network of healthcare workers, primarily made up of nurses, physiotherapists and caregivers to deliver affordable home-nursing services and in-home therapy for chronically ill patients. Today, Bena Care has served over 16,000 patients, bringing care into homes where it’s needed most. Many of them report that this service has the potential to save them up to half of their healthcare costs. But behind these numbers are stories—a mother relieved that her son can receive dialysis closer to home, a daughter able to provide care for her mother because she was trained by our team. These are the stories that keep me going, even when the road ahead looks incredibly difficult to navigate.
- Bena Care has served over 16,000 patients, bringing care into homes where it’s needed most.
A lifeline in Boehringer Ingelheim: expanding health coverage options
In 2021, Bena Care reached a critical juncture. Running a social enterprise in healthcare is not for the faint-hearted. The financial pressures, the systemic challenges, the endless need—it can feel insurmountable. That’s when Boehringer Ingelheim’s Making More Health (MMH) entrepreneur support program came into our lives. It was more than just an opportunity, it was validation. Someone saw the potential in what we were doing and said: “Let’s make this bigger.”
Through MMH, we piloted programs that had long been part of my vision. We trained family caregivers, empowering them to provide supportive care. We launched free screenings in communities heavily burdened by diabetes and hypertension, focusing on early detection and intervention. These initiatives didn’t just work—they transformed us. Even after the program ended, these programs remained at the heart of Bena Care’s mission.
Read the whole piece on Imagine – Boehringer Ingelheim’s sustainability story hub.
