The Isiolo County Referral Hospital morgue has remained the one-stop centre for all bodies from the county and her neighbours.
Bodies of road accident victims, bandit and terrorist attacks, and natural deaths, including stillbirths, end up at the facility for preservation.
Consequently, the facility has been overstretched beyond its capacity, triggering a pile-up of bodies. The facility has a capacity of only 12 bodies.
This has occasioned frequent breakdown of machines meant to preserve the bodies.
“This is the only mortuary that is serving this entire area including Marsabit and parts of Samburu. Bodies collected by the police are brought here,” Medical Services Chief Officer Abdirahman Ibrahim.
Speaking at the facility on Saturday, Ibrahim added;
“It is a challenge because these bodies are left there, and they fill up the existing spaces.”
The situation has been worsened by the cultural taboos that abhor the collection of infants and stillbirths for interment.
“There are families that do not collect infant bodies. Stillbirths are left here and they are not collected. So, they end up filling up the space,” Ibrahim added.
Currently, there are 32 bodies at the facility, 20 more than the capacity.
Early this month, County Deputy Governor James Lowasa asked the public to collect some 11 unclaimed bodies lying at the mortuary within 21 days.
The DG stated that the county government would apply to dispose off the bodies after the lapse of the grace window.
“The morgue has four refrigerators, all with a capacity of preserving 12 bodies, and is the only mortuary in the entire county. So you can imagine the situation,” he said.
Ibrahim, however, revealed that the county government has moved to fix the machines and expand the capacity of the mortuary which continues to receive more bodies.
Already, a Sh10 million tender has been awarded to a contractor who is expected to start the work next week.
“The tender we awarded is of sh10 million. It is meant to service and expand the existing machines and incorporate new ones that can accommodate 16 bodies,” he said.
The revelations about the dire situation at the morgue came to the limelight two weeks ago when the Senate County Public Accounts Committee visited the hospital.
The committee, chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ established that the mortuary has been overstretched and a cooling machine for preserving bodies broken down.
However, Ibrahim said the Governor Abdi Guyo-led administration has put in place plans to construct a standalone morgue and leave the current one to serve the referral hospital.
The chief officer stated the county is also building an accident and emergency unit at the referral facility to decongest and expand its capacity.
In addition, the county has struck a deal with the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) for the supply of drugs and other essentials to the hospital and other facilities.
“If Isiolo County referral hospital doesn’t have drugs, I don’t know which other facility that you can refer a patient to. Our pharmacy is fully stocked. It’s not only this one, but we have others across the county,” he said.
There are 56 health facilities in Isiolo, including a Level 5 and two Level 4 Hospitals.
The chief officer said that the ongoing doctors' strike has affected the service delivery at the busy facility that attends to between 300 and 700 patients a day.
“The strike has affected us but work is ongoing. We have never turned away a patient from this facility because of the doctors’ strike. We have not closed down the facility,” he said.