Nairobi Hospital Under Probe Over Detention of UoN Don’s Body

The medical regulator has summoned the Nairobi Hospital over the detention of a lecturer and later his remains due to a Sh11 million payment.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has informed Parliament that facility management will be grilled on Tuesday for refusing to release the body of University of Nairobi lecturer Lincoln Khasakhala.

KMPDC chief executive, Daniel Yumbya, told MPs that the council will investigate why the facility defied its orders to release the late medic’s remains.

“They defied my orders to release the body. They refused to respond to my letter. I have summoned the hospital management to appear before the council on Tuesday, March 2,” Dr Yumbya said.

The council was not involved in the incarceration until the family sought its help, he told the National Assembly’s Health Committee.

Read: Family In Distress As Body of Doctor Who Succumbed to Covid-19 Held Over Ksh18 Million Bill

The committee is seeking to know why Dr Khasakhala was kept at Nairobi Hospital in July 2021, despite the fact that his family had requested that he be discharged for homecare two days after his admission.

The committee is also looking into why the body of the deceased don was kept in the hospital after his death.

Dr Yumbya, the hospital’s CEO, UoN, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), and Dr Khasakhala’s family were among those who met with the committee.

The chief executive of Nairobi Hospital, James Nyamongo, and Dr Khasakhala’s younger brother disagreed on the events that led to the don’s body being detained throughout treatment and after death.

While the hospital faulted the family for not agreeing to pay the debt, the family claimed that it gave channels for the medical bills to be paid.

Read Also: KMPDU Mourns 28-year-old Doctor Stephen Mogusu Who Succumbed To COVID-19

“At admission, Dr Khasakhala told the Hospital that he was an employee of UoN with a health cover. He provided his UAP Insurance as the second area financing his medical bill and an NHIF card which the hospital recorded,” Dr Khasakhala’s younger brother, David told MPs via Zoom.

The family told a local publication that by the time of the doctor’s death he had accumulated a Ksh22 million bill. They only managed to pay off Ksh2.9 million with the assistance of the Nairobi West Hospital.

Dr Khasakhala succumbed to Covid-19 in January.

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