Suspension of Nairobi Hospital CEO Gordon Odundo extended
What you need to know:
- The extension of Mr Odundo’s suspension has added a new chapter to the crisis that is threatening to tear apart one of East Africa’s most advanced hospitals that has been at war with itself .
At stake is the control of billions of shillings in tenders for projects and the staggering revenue the hospital generates on an annual basis.
The Nairobi Hospital has extended the suspension of its CEO Gordon Odundo as the fight for control of the medical institution hits its third month.
In a letter sent to the embattled chief executive on Friday, the hospital’s board chairman, Mr John Simba, said management had decided to extend the suspension to April 13.
BILLIONS
“Your leave expires on March 13 and the board at its meeting on February 25 approved your compulsory leave be extended to April 13,” said Mr Simba in a letter seen by the Nation.
The extension of Mr Odundo’s suspension has added a new chapter to the crisis that is threatening to tear apart one of East Africa’s most advanced hospitals that has been at war with itself since November last year. At stake is the control of billions of shillings in tenders for projects and the staggering revenue the hospital generates on an annual basis.
In recent years, the hospital has been on a spending spree splashing billions of shillings on the Anderson Centre, a 12-storey building including a convention centre with a 400-seat auditorium and a massive kitchen block.
Last month, a group of senior doctors and members of the Kenya Hospital Association that comprises 1,800 members, who own the hospital, are said to have kicked out some board members from a meeting.
CASUALTY
It is, however, the suspended CEO who the Nation understands stood in the way of the awarding of a tender for the supply of insurance services to a company owned by one of the board members that has been the biggest casualty so far.
The board member was so furious after losing out on the tender that was awarded in November last year, that a plot to kick out the CEO was hatched and implemented.
On Sunday, the hospital’s board, in a paid advertisement, tried to play down the issues facing the health facility. It said the CEO’s suspension was procedural and warranted. The board, however, failed to say that the CEO’s suspension had been extended just two days before.
In the advertisement, the board claimed the CEO was suspended after a forensic audit carried out by EY revealed some gaps that required an extension of the audit.
