A family from Loitokitok is calling on the Health ministry to intervene and have the body of their kin detained at a city hospital over Sh2 million bill, released.
Andrew Micheka, 67, a casual worker at Olkejuado district hospital was taken ill on June 30 and taken to Loitokitok subcounty hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19.
However the hospital's authorities referred him to Kajiado county referral hospital as they did not have an isolation facility.
Micheka’s daughter Lucy Andrew told the Star that she took her father to Kajiado county referral hospital but were turned away as doctors said the facility was full.
Casual workers at the hospital are also reported to have downed their tools at the time, over five months pay arrears and that all the departments at the hospital including the ICU, had been closed.
Doctors at the Kajiado county referral hospital in turn referred Micheka to St Paul’s Hospital, a private facility in Kitengela town where he was taken care of for three days before being referred to Kenyatta University Hospital in Nairobi.
Andrew said KU hospital demanded a Sh200,000 deposit an amount which the family did not have.
“We later went to Bellevue Hospital in Nairobi where they accepted Sh100,000 as a deposit of which we first paid Sh50,000 first and cleared the balance later,” she said.
At the Bellevue hospital, the patient underwent treatment from July 3, to July 22 when he passed on.
Andrew said at the time of death, her father's bill had hit Sh2,498,780 with family and friends only managing to raise Sh315,000 so far.
She said the hospital now wants the family to pay 70 per cent of the balance and leave a car logbook or land title deed for 30 days with them.
“We do not have any land title or car logbook. We are appealing to the Ministry of Health to come to our aid. We need to bury our father and later pay the amount,” Andrew said.
Bellevue hospital accountant Bonface Mosomi confirmed the amount of money due to the hospital but denied that the facility requested the family to produce a car logbook.
"You see, the hospital has bills to pay too, and we told the family to enhance payments so that we can release the body to them" Mosomi said on phone.
-Edited by SKanyara