Nairobi: 1-Year-Old Baby Held in Hospital ICU over KSh 3m Bill, Parents Denied Access to Him
- A routine medical referral unexpectedly changed course, leaving a distressed family questioning the decisions made during a critical emergency transfer
- Emotions ran high as parents reportedly faced barriers, both physical and financial, while seeking access to their child in intensive care at a Nairobi facility
- The facility demanded KSh 3 million to release the baby for transfer, prompting his agonised parents to seek the government's intervention
Nancy Odindo, a TUKO.co.ke journalist, has over four years of experience covering Kenyan politics, news, and features for digital and print media.
Nairobi: A family from Oloitokitok in Kajiado county is pleading for the release of their one-year-old child, who is being detained at Abyan Hospital in Eastleigh, over an outstanding bill of KSh 3 million.
Source: Twitter
The child, who is currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), was initially being treated in Oloitokitok before doctors recommended an urgent transfer to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) due to complications allegedly arising from a botched surgery.
Was Ulavu's child overdosed?
According to a report by Citizen TV, the mother, Esther Ulavu, said her child suffered cardiac arrest twice after he was allegedly overdosed on anaesthesia during a surgical procedure.
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Before the operation, Ulavu had been asked to pay KSh 5,000. The operating surgeon, Henry Kiprono, confirmed the request.
“We do operations, and there are things that are not available in the hospital, and we inform the patient,” he said while explaining that the amount was needed to purchase a catheter.
Doctors later admitted that the baby's brain was deprived of oxygen for several minutes, plunging him into a coma.
Due to the worsening condition, doctors advised a referral to KNH.
Ulavu was required to pay KSh 50,000 to initiate the process. With no money at hand, she borrowed the amount and an ambulance was arranged.
Was Ulavu's child transferred to KNH?
Although KNH was the officially designated referral hospital, Ulavu said the ambulance diverted the child to Abyan Hospital instead without her consent or prior notice.
Source: Twitter
“I asked the driver here if the facility was KNH, and he said that was where he was told. The nurses also said that was where they were told,” Ulavu said, recounting the moment she realised her critically ill child had been taken to a facility not mentioned in the referral documents.
At Abyan Hospital, the situation deteriorated. Reportedly, Ulavu and her husband were at times denied access to their child.
The hospital allegedly barred the couple from visiting until they clear the KSh 3 million bill an amount the family cannot afford.
Ulavu claimed the harassment has been both verbal and physical. In a video, she was heard confronting staff:
"Show me your law that says I can’t see my child without paying money?"
Her husband was reportedly beaten after also demanding to see their son.
Meanwhile, the hospital’s CEO stated they had been 'duly accredited' and directed further inquiries to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC).
Now, with the baby stuck in a small private hospital and without the care of his parents, the family is appealing to the Ministry of Health to intervene and ensure the child is transferred to KNH.
Nairobi woman seeks help to undergo 2 surgeries
Meanwhile, Imani Faith, a woman battling breast cancer, appealed for financial assistance from members of the public to help her undergo two urgent surgeries.
On July 28, she travelled to Eldoret seeking treatment, but her request for surgery was declined by SHA despite the prescribed procedure costing KSh 141,000.
The urgency of the condition caught her unprepared. She appealed to well-wishers to send their contributions directly to her phone number, as she did not have a paybill.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
