The Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) led by CEO Evanson Kamuri on Tuesday, May 16, explained why the facility had accrued huge unsettled debts owed by patients, in turn affecting its operations.
While appearing before the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee on Social Services, Administration, and Agriculture, the CEO noted that some of the patients fled the facility after getting treatment.
The CEO further revealed that efforts to contact the patients through short messages (SMS) and demand letters using the last known addresses of the patients proved futile.
"The debt related to patients who absconded from the hospital before paying bills or entering into a formal credit arrangement with the facility," Kamuri explained.
However, to avoid being contacted, the CEO noted that the patients changed their addresses among other factors that hindered the recovery of the money.
Members of the committee were irked by the huge debts accrued over the years.
They were also puzzled why the facility was unable to follow up on the patients after they were discharged to ensure defaulters settle their bills.
Additionally, the members probed the management for denying some doctors and hospital staff leave as outlined in the Constitution.
“Leave days are entitled to every employee under the Constitution. Explain to this committee why KNH has failed to grant leave to some of its employees and cite which law gives employers powers to choose whether to grant leave or not,” committee chairperson Emanuel Wangwe (Navakholo) questioned.
Kamuri defended the move to carry forward leave days for several doctors adding that it was due to the shortage of doctors in the space.
The CEO noted that if some of the doctors went on leave, it meant that patients in critical condition would go unattended.
He further called upon the government to hire more staff to deal with the shortage.
His request came amidst the high cost of living and the rampant lamentations that the government was broke to run crucial departments.
In February President William Ruto committed to hiring 4,000 jobless doctors to help deliver his Universal Healthcare promise.
