Officials from the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) led by CEO Dr. Evanson N Kamuri were tasked to respond to tough questions raised by Members of the PIC-SSAA concerning the audit queries in the Auditor General’s report before the committee.
Among the key concerns were issues regarding high number of unsettled debts owed by patients, unutilized leave for staff,among others.
The outspoken CEO also highlighted the issues of land taken from KNH for the road and police hospital without compensation. The land was hived off for the link road with no compensation from KURA and also the police hospital land
Dr. Evanson pleaded with the Committee to consider allocating more funds to the facility to enable them recruit more staff and sort the current challenge of under staffing. This, he noted, would ensure services are not interrupted when some employees proceed on leave.
The legislators also sought to understand from the officials why the facility has a lot of unsettled debts owed by patients over the years. Members were also concerned on why the facility has been unable to follow up on the patients after they are discharged to ensure defaulters settle their bills.
“The debt relates to patients who absconded from hospital before paying bills or entering into a formal credit arrangement with the facility,” explained Dr. Evanson.
The CEO further explained that efforts have been made to follow up the debts through demand letters and short messages (SMS) using last known addresses for the patients. He added that the recovery of these debts has not been successful due to several factors among them, change of address by patients.
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