The Permanent Secretary (PS) for Public Health, Mary Muthoni, has invited relevant stakeholders to discuss the issues facing the Social Health Authority (SHA) and improve it.
Her request comes days after the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) announced plans to pause all treatments to patients under SHA following the state's failure to pay for services done since 2017.
According to RUPHA, the state failed to pay hospitals for over 11 months, and favoured its own clinics in an uncompetitive and unethical manner.
Their demands also included a Ksh30 billion accumulated under the old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) since 2017, and the move to stop services under SHA is the last resort to get the funds and pressure the government to improve services under SHA.
"If there are challenges in terms of communication or agreeing on something, my approach is that people should not throw their hands in the air but come back to the table and seek solutions," Muthoni said.
"We are all serving Kenyans, we do not have a patient who belongs to the private hospital and another to the public hospital, a patient is a patient. I would urge them to place their complaints in the right channel so that they are addressed," the PS continued.
The PS encouraged all stakeholders to play their part and ensure that they provide high-quality health care to Kenyans as promised by SHA.
The PS was speaking in Kutus on Friday, February 21, during a medical camp organised by ACK St. Paul’s Church, where she emphasised the importance of bringing health care closer to residents of the area.
The move by RUPHA, which is an association of over 380 private hospitals will leave patients under SHA stranded from Monday, February 24, if a consensus is not reached.
"This follows months of failed engagements, unfulfilled promises, and growing financial distress among hospitals, which now threatens the very survival of healthcare institutions across Kenya," RUPHA explained in a statement on Thursday.
The move elicited mixed reactions among Kenyans and leaders, including former Chief Justice David Maraga, who condemned the government for failing Kenyans by providing a failed health system.
Maraga demanded that the government act promptly to restore these services and ensure all Kenyans can access medical care.
On its part, the Office of the Ombudsman demanded that SHA provide a detailed breakdown of outstanding payments to hospitals, including the reason for the delay of payments to RUPHA hospitals.
To streamline SHA services, the Ombudsman, led by Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingasira, demanded a transparent audit of SHA’s financial operations, proper remedial actions on how SHA plans to settle delays and prevent future delays, and resolution mechanisms the authority intends to employ to resolve the looming countrywide crisis.
Meanwhile, government officials are campaigning for the scheme, encouraging more Kenyans to register for it.
