Popular actress Catherine Kamau, aka Kate actress on Wednesday, September 15, came to the aid of a friend's ailing baby who had been kept waiting for long hours at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
She made an urgent appeal on Twitter Thursday evening asking for any help to have the baby admitted to an Intensive Care Unit after paperwork hurdles at KNH made them fear for her life.
"Guys please help a friend get an ICU for her baby. Kenyatta hospital are delaying transfer papers - reason - the doctor is not around, she is losing him please," she wrote on Twitter.
Her appeal attracted the attention of KMPDU Nairobi Secretary General Dr Thunanira Kaugiria, who helped the parents of the baby secure an ICU bed at the facility.
"Finally they have gotten an ICU bed in KNH. Dr Thuranira thank you so much for coming through for these parents...may God bless you so much," she stated.
The actress further called upon the government to appreciate the efforts of medics in government hospitals who go out of their way to save lives.
"Baby Gyan is now in stable condition. I want to sincerely thank you for the retweets and for your concern ,the family is extremely grateful and humbled," Kate updated her fans on Thursday.
KNH has been accused of negligence a number of times, with the most high-profile case yet being the death of veteran journalist Ken Walibora.
Reports had indicated that Walibora, who was run over by a matatu along Landhies Road, remained unattended to from 10:30 a.m. until his demise at midnight, reports that KNH refuted.
A report by the National Assembly’s Health Committee in 2019 indicated that the country’s referral hospitals have been incapacitated by acute understaffing and perennial underfunding, among other problems.
The report added that KNH was "severely constrained" due to underfunding and overcrowding.
The hospital is said to treat an average of 2,093 inpatients daily and 2,500 outpatients daily.
However, the hospital has a bed capacity of 1,800.
“The hospital is overcrowded due to broken referral systems. The hospital also closed its outpatient clinic that had been previously used to de-congest the main hospital,” Sabina Chege, a member of the committee stated.
