Duale suspends 40 hospitals over fraudulent SHA dealings
CS warns that fraud once seen under the defunct NHIF will not be tolerated under SHA, with offenders facing personal liability and surcharges
Forty Hospitals have been suspended by the ministry of Health over fraudulent dealings while seeking settlement of claims from the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said a gazette notice shall be published indicating the hospitals that have been suspended.
“Therefore, the Social Health Authority has suspended these health facilities found to have engaged in corruption and theft of public resources,” Duale said.
Duale said the suspension follows investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and shall only be lifted after the affected facilities comply with the set SHA regulations.
The CS explained that during the period of investigations, the hospitals are not entitled to receive any benefits from SHA, adding that the government will recover any money paid to the facilities based on fraudulent claims.
”We will be surcharging them to recover any money already paid to them based on any fraudulent claims,” he stated.
Among the fraudulent activities Duale said the affected facilities were engaging in include multiple billing of patients and labelling outpatients as inpatients to overprice services.
Further, eight doctors within Nairobi, Bungoma and Kilifi have been suspended for their involvement in the fraudulent dealings at the facilities.
The ministry has also suspended eight doctors from Nairobi, Bungoma, and Kilifi counties for their direct involvement in the schemes.
Four clinicians associated with facilities in Nairobi and Homa Bay Counties have also been suspended.
”SHA has immediately, from this minute, withdrawn the user rights for these doctors and clinical officers from all the authority and the digital health platforms. We have also informed the KMPDU to implement the decision made today,” he announced.
The CS warned that fraud once seen under the defunct NHIF will not be tolerated under SHA, with offenders facing personal liability and surcharges.
Duale has called upon all health care providers to keep in mind that they owe Kenyans a duty of care, emphasising that all medical procedures can be performed or paid for by SHA.
He urged Kenyans to protect their SHA OTPs, announced biometric verification in major facilities to curb misuse, and called on the public to report suspected fraud via toll-free 147.
