Patients flock private hospitals in Tharaka-Nithi as medics' strike enters fourth day

Nurses receive patients at the Chogoria Mission Hospital on December 8, 2016. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At Chogoria Mission Hospital, Chief Medical Officer Franklin Ikunda said they have enough facilities to cater for the rising number of patients.
  • He said they are receiving many serious cases from Embu, Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties.

Private hospitals in Tharaka-Nithi County continue receiving large number of patients from public hospitals as the doctors and nurses strike entered day four on Thursday.

A spot check by the Nation established that wards in private hospitals in the county are flooded with patients.

At Chogoria Mission Hospital, Chief Medical Officer Franklin Ikunda said they have enough facilities to cater for the rising number of patients.

He said they are receiving many serious cases from Embu, Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties.

“Yesterday we received a two-day-old child who was brought in a very serious condition,” said Dr Ikunda.

However, Dr Ikunda expressed concerns over a pending Sh2 million medical bill that Tharaka-Nithi county government owes the facility.

He said the county approached the hospital management during the recently ended nurses’ strike and asked the management to treat all patients transferred from its public hospitals and promised to cover the cost.

“Tharaka-Nithi County government owes this hospital Sh2 million and we are concerned that the bill may continue to accumulate and affect our operations,” he said.

Dr Ikunda said the most suffering are those seeking dialysis services because they are forced to turn them away because their machines are faulty.

The medic urged locals to enrol for National Hospital Insurance Fund medical scheme to access medical services in both public and private hospitals without straining.