Strengthening health systems in developing countries such as Kenya is required to achieve
the third United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of health for all, at all ages. However,
Kenya is experiencing a “brain drain” and a critical shortage of healthcare professionals. There is a
need to identify the factors that motivate healthcare workers to work in the health sector in rural and
marginalized areas. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the factors associated with the level
and types of motivation among healthcare professionals in public and mission hospitals in Meru county,
Kenya. Data were collected from 24 public and mission hospitals using a self-administered structured
questionnaire. A total of 553 healthcare professionals participated in this study; 78.48% from public
hospitals and 21.52% from mission hospitals. Hospital ownership was statistically nonsignificant in
healthcare professionals’ overall motivation (p > 0.05). The results showed that sociodemographic
and work-environment factors explained 29.95% of the variation in overall motivation scores
among participants. Findings indicate there are more similarities than disparities among healthcare
professionals’ motivation factors, regardless of hospital ownership; therefore, motivation strategies
should be developed and applied in both public and private not-for-profit hospitals to ensure an
effective healthcare workforce and strengthen healthcare systems in Kenya.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcarepm2021School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH
