Susan Ogolla, a patient who had been detained for over a year at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) will now celebrate this season's festivities with her family after she was discharged from the facility.
Ogolla was admitted to the referral hospital with a brain tumour in June 2020 and after successful treatment, she recovered in September 2020 but was detained due to Ksh1 million bill she could not clear.
In October 2021, she reached out to Citizen TV, and and her plight was highlighted by the national broadcaster.
"I was discharged in September last year but couldn't leave because the bill was too high," she narrated in September 2021.
Speaking to the media house, her husband Vincent Odipo noted that his wife had already healed but was yet to be discharged.
"My wife already healed she is still detained at the hospital," a teary Odipo told the press.
At the time, their hospital bill, including the initial charge, subsequent charges and interest had ballooned to over Ksh3 million and was inching closer to Ksh4 million.
After the September report aired, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) wrote to the institution asking them to release the patient to no avail.
KNH argued that the two parties had failed to reach an agreement on how they would settle the bill and that the parcel of land provided as collateral could not settle the entire bill.
In November, the family reached out to Citizen TV once again after the institution failed to release their kin.
The TV station house then wrote a letter to KNH and on Friday, December 10, Susan Ogolla was released from the facility.
"When I went, I found (KNH) bosses, including the senior most executives. The handed me an enveloped as my Christmas present and asked me to open it.
"I took it and read it. The first page had the 'cleared' stamp and I just broke down," she narrated. The family signed an agreement with the facility to settle the bill.
