At least 260 hospitals have been shut down in an ongoing crackdown by the regulator for failing to meet compliance.
These were out of the 1,305 facilities that have been inspected in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Meru and Embu by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC).
KMPDC CEO David Kariuki on Thursday said 60 people had been arrested and will be arraigned to face various charges.
Speaking during a crackdown in Nakuru, Kariuki said as of Wednesday evening, over 260 health facilities of various categories had been visited within Nakuru out of which 44 were found to be non-compliant to the standards and had been closed.
Another 16 were found not compliant to some of the standards and the sections that were found non-compliant had been closed. This means the 16 affected facilities were placed under partial closure.
“Apart from having expired samples and not following due process and procedures for samples that had been collected from patients, the other major issue we have seen is non-compliance to infection prevention and control procedures,” Kariuki said.
“Those are the major areas that we have found non-conformities in most of these facilities apart from some of the workers not having the necessary documentation,” he said.
According to KMPDC, 263 of the 436 registered health facilities in Mombasa County were visited, with 46 being closed for operating unlawfully.
Last month, KMPDC warned hospitals and practitioners operating without a valid license that they risked closure and imminent arrest.
The regulator published a list of unlicensed medical, and dental practitioners and health facilities in the country warning that they are liable to conviction.
KMPDC said such people on conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both as stipulated in the law.
“Effective immediately, KMPDC will be taking strict actions against defaulting practitioners and health facilities,” Kariuki said.