Two months after Mama Margaret Uhuru Hospital was transferred to the Nairobi City County government from the National government (Kenyatta National Hospital), services at the hospital have degenerated to an all time low and it has turned into an outpatient facility, investigations by The Informer Media Group can authoritatively reveal.
The 548-bed capacity hospital was reopened by Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja in June despite protests by residents of Kariobangi North Ward and the other parts of Eastlands.
Lack of public participation and whether the county would be able to manage the hospital were top of the major reasons why the residents protested.
In a fact-finding mission by The Informer Media Group, we visited the hospital two months after and we found out that the hospital now operates as an outpatient facility with the majority of the sections still closed.
Shocking scenes of a once vibrant now ran-down institution played out depicting the facility as a ghost health care center and has since been largely deserted by healthcare seekers with critical departments having been closed down.
The hospital was offering a range of medical services, including renal dialysis, radiology, tuberculosis management among others.
The accident and emergency centre was closed with the dental and other sections including the wards are not in operation and are currently closed.
The children’s clinic area was also closed with the triaging area which in many hospitals is always full with zero traffic and only one or two people coming in after hours.
The Level 5 hospital is now an ’empty shell’ after KNH and the national government took their pieces of equipment and workers.
The Informer Media Group established that KNH took back all their machines and left it for Nairobi County to bring their own which they are yet to.
“Kenyatta National Hospital which was running the facility left with all their personnel and pieces of equipment. They started taking the equipment before the county took over. Some of the machines were costing up to Sh400 Million.” An officer who took us around the hospital during our visit explained to us.
Kariobangi North Ward representative Joel Munuve who was on the frontline of opposing the transfer of the hospital to Nairobi County told The Informer Media Group that he will soon request to know why the facility is not operating all sections and also request for it to go back to KNH.
He said that the low traffic and some sections remaining closed two months later are a clear prove that the county is unable to run the level five facility.
“I will request another statement from the health committee to know why the facility is not operating all the sections. If that fails then we as the people of Kariobangi will have no option but to go to court. A facility that was being run by billions cannot operate with something like 5o Million; that is so little for such.” Munuve stated.
According to the Kariobangi legislator, the indigent funds that the hospital was to receive in helping those unable to pay hospital bills were reverted to Kenyatta Hospital hence no one can come to the hospital because Nairobi County has no funds set for that.
Munuve says the fact that the hospital is surrounded by slums, a majority of the people preferred going there when it was under KNH as they were being helped through the indigent funds.
“The hospital is in the middle of slums where we have cases of can’t pay won’t pay. In such scenarios, the indigent funds were coming through for them. And now they only have an option of going to Kenyatta instead of the hospital near them.” He explained.
This comes as various hospitals and health centers run by the county have been complaining lack of drugs to give to residents visiting the facilities.
“For the last few weeks, there has been a shortage of drugs because we have not received any supply. Patients come for treatment and are frustrated when we tell them to go buy even paracetamol because there are no drugs.” An officer in charge of one of the facilities who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals disclosed to us.
Speaking to The Informer Media Group, the sectorial Committee Chair for Health and Nutrition who also doubles as the Mountain Ward MCA Maurice Ochieng sympathised with the situation of MMU hospital saying that he hopes the hospital will soon be equipped after the budget they passed was uploaded.
“The budget has just been uploaded after it was passed and I hope the county will soon supply the medicine to the various facilities.” Ochieng stated.
“That is a serious issue that should be taken care of immediately. We set a budget of Sh200 million which is supposed to help in equipping the hospital. We are giving CEC Health two weeks to ensure that the facility is well-equipped and being run as a level-five hospital. We cannot have taken over from KNH only to mishandle or be unable to run the hospital.” He said.
The Health committee chairman accused CEC in charge of Health at City Hall for concentrating too much on the school feeding program and forgetting the various facilities as he claimed that most of the level three and two facilities are all ‘dead’.
He added that they will put the CEC to task and ensure that the county hospitals are well managed for Nairobians to get the services required.
“Health is not only the school feeding program. That is only part of the health sector but the CEC has concentrated much on that than hospitals. Level two and three facilities in the county are all ‘dead’. We call on the CEC to be accountable or the docket be given to a doctor who will be up to the task.” The chairman added.
It is not yet clear how many doctors and nurses the county has employed to run the facility and whether they are in there.
A source who sought anonymity told the informer the doctors and nurses including other staff who were at the facility with KNH all left because they were not sure if the county would be able to pay them.
However, the hurry to transfer the facility to the County as Kariobangi North MCA terms it turning the facility into a revenue stream for the county was dismissed by the Committee Executive Member (CECM) for Health and Nutrition Suzanne Silantoi saying that the transfer was not rushed but seamless.
“The county ensured a seamless transition by purchasing drugs from KEMSA, lab reagents, non-pharmaceuticals, and nursing consumables.” Silantoi stated.
