Heavy debts, low drug supplies cripple services in key hospitals

Hospitals in Vihiga are on their sick beds due to debt, delayed supplies and management hiccups.

Vihiga, Sabatia, Hamisi and Emuhaya district hospitals have a collective debt of Sh20 million out of which Vihiga - which serves as the referral hospital alone - owes Sh5 million.

Because of the debts, some of the hospitals have not been able to buy drugs and equipment or pay for water and electricity supplies on time.

The health sector is also grappling with another management crisis after medical staff disowned the recently established County Health Management Teams (CHMTs).

County Health Executive Silas Kipkemboi says the initiative was meant to create leaner management teams in hospitals to allow excess staff offer services in the wards.

“We have a deficit of nurses in the county and that is why we have made drastic changes to the health management teams,” said Mr Kipkemboi.

UNLAWFUL APPOINTMENTS
But officials of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) Vihiga branch claim that the appointments are unlawful as the health executive sidelined nurses’ line managers in the appointments.

“The minister needs these people to advise him as he is not a medic. We advise him to revoke the appointments he made last week immediately and follow the right procedures in appointing public officers,” said Knun’s branch chairman Zaddock Miheso.

At Vihiga District Hospital, the medical superintendent, Dr Geoffrey Koba, told the Nation that some of the debts date back to more than a year ago.

“Before devolution, the facility was able to pay its expenditures and utility bills without fail. But when devolution came in, the law says all the money collected by the hospital be deposited in a central account managed by the county government,” Dr Koba explained.

He appealed to the County Assembly to allow the hospital to operate its account independently, as is the case in counties such as Kakamega.

“By doing so, the hospital will not experience the problems we are currently witnessing. All the accounts we used to manage were frozen and all payments are now done by the county government,” Dr Koba said.

OUTSTANDING BILLS

The hospital’s anaesthetic and laundry machines have failed due to poor servicing, while a stand-by generator bought in 2002 has stopped working.

The county government is yet to give out Sh300,000 needed to service the anaesthetic machine.

The hospital went without electricity for four days after Kenya Power disconnected the supply last Friday over a Sh1.2 million unpaid bill. Supplies were only restored after the bill was cleared.

Mr Kipkemboi said that a cabinet meeting chaired by Governor Moses Akaranga last week had directed the County Treasury to clear all outstanding bills.

“It is true that the hospitals accounts were frozen and a directive issued that all the money collected by the hospital be channelled to county government accounts.

However all the outstanding bills will be cleared before this week ends,” Mr Kipkemboi said.

He added: “All our major hospitals are faced with the challenges of drugs and payment of utility bills. I just inherited the challenges but as a ministry, we will work on them.”