Operations at the troubled Nairobi Hospital are set to grind to a halt after the Nairobi Hospital Admitting Staff Association issued work boycott beginning today, Monday, September 16, 2024, demanding the resignation of the hospital’s board of directors.
Effectively, all inpatients clients and those seeking medical care including emergency cases will face a grim unfortunate reality of lack of emergency healthcare service.
In a statement, the Kenya Hospital Association said the strike will lead to a halt in new admissions, with medical attention only available to current patients, those in wards, private clinics and emergency cases.
The Kenya Hospital Association has pledged support for the doctors and their stand against the current governance issues at the facility.
“To support the commitment of saving the hospital and ensuring an amicable and immediate resignation of the incumbent board of management, in solidarity with the progressive members of the Kenya Hospital Association in their quest to save the hospital, and finally in protest against the crisis in governance at the Nairobi Hospital by the board of management, the general public is hereby informed that the Nairobi Hospital Admitting Staff Association (Doctors) will by midnight today, Monday, September 16, 2024, down their tools, until the incumbent board of directors resigns.” The association said.
The members have called on the central command of Nairobi Hospital to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and urged the public to support their efforts.
“That the central command structure of the Nairobi Hospital is called upon to take note of this critical development. That we call upon the support of all members of the public of goodwill, who are desirers of sustained quality health care from the Nairobi Hospital, to rally all possible assistance in the concerted efforts to save the Nairobi hospital.” The statement added.
They also noted that an Extraordinary General Meeting has been scheduled for September 18, 2024, at 2.30 pm at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Upper Hill to address the crisis and discuss the board’s resignation.
They warned that the doctors’ strike will continue until the board steps down.
The strike notice follows recent allegations against Nairobi Hospital, which have linked the institution to corruption and poor governance.
The Kenya Hospital Association has accused the hospital of operating under conflicts of interest, cronyism, and nepotism.
However, the hospital dismissed the claims terming them a “smear campaign,” and asserted that the accusations are “choreographed out of frustration by individuals who have failed to manipulate our sound governance structures for their own selfish gain.”