Residents of Bungoma county have raised the alarm over the dilapidated state of the Bungoma Referral Hospital.
The facility, which was built in 1952, has been in the spotlight over congestion, with patients sharing beds as others sleep on the floor.
The situation has left many wondering if the fifth most populous county is adequately prepared to fight Covid-19.
The facility was elevated to a referral hospital in 2014 by then-Governor Ken Lusaka, now the Senate speaker. It also serves residents of Busia and Kakamega counties.
Pictures of patients sharing beds as others sleep on the floor in the wards have been circulating on social media platforms.
The images have raised fears of unpreparedness to handle the coronavirus.
Denis Wafula from Bumula was admitted to the facility and has been there for three days. He was diagnosed with malaria.
"Yesterday, I was also forced to share a bed with someone who was having a running stomach," Wafula said.
He said the ward is meant for 20 patients but sometimes hosts up to 40.
Danson Wabwile from Kanduyi who had visited a sick relative said the situation is saddening. He called upon Governor Wycliffe Wangamati to move with speed and resolve the situation.
Medical Superintendent David Wanikina said the hospital has only 240 beds but admits about 400 patients.
The medics are overwhelmed by the huge number of patients who only prefer to seek treatment at the facility, Dr Wanikina said.
"The facility lies on the Northern Corridor. We get many accident victims," he said.
"We also witness about 60 to 70 births a month, something that makes the facility very busy."
He asked well-wishers to help renovate and expand the facility to accommodate the high number of patients.
Chief health officer Patrick Wandili said the hospital has been facing challenges that the county should address. "We get close to 1,000 patients a month with about 60 daily."
County communications director Tim Machi, however, dismissed the images circulating on social media but admitted that the hospital was overwhelmed.
"We have had many leaders who have failed to improve this facility that was set up in the colonial era," Machi said.
Governor Wangamati has in the past admitted that the facility lacks beds and he is working "round the clock" to solve the issue, Machi added.
The county was also recently put on the spot over missing ICU beds that had been donated to the facility by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.
The beds later resurfaced, with the hospital management claiming they had been safely stored awaiting installation at the new ICU block that will be completed in three months.
"The governor has said many times that many of our facilities across the nine subcounties are lacking beds and he is keenly addressing it," he said.
Most facilities in Bungoma have drugs, the director said.
"As we speak, we are one of the few counties that have cleared their debts with Kemsa and we have enough drugs."
The county has identified a number of schools such as Kibabii Boys, Kamusinga Boys, Cardinal Otunga Girls and Lugulu Girls as isolation centres for coronavirus patients.
"We also have a 40-bed isolation centre at Webuye County Hospital and Webuye MTC College," he added.
Machi said the county is building a referral hospital with three theatres and a 300-bed capacity and others in Sirisia, Tongaren and Bumula.
Wanikina said the county is building a three-ward hospital that will be completed next year. He said Bungoma Referral was a pre-colonial chiefs' camp that needs to be modernized.
Edited by R.Wamochie