Over 80 stranded patients go home after well-wishers pay their bills

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While at work one day about a month ago, John Ngugi Njoroge tripped on a stone and fell, fracturing his pelvic bone in the process.

He was rushed to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment but he had not registered with Sha.

“Friends helped me register and pay the required premium to start treatment with Sha,” Njoroge said.

After a month of treatment as an inpatient, the medical bill came to Sh444,000.

“Sha paid Sh336,000 and I was left with Sh108,000 to pay. My heart sunk. I could not find that kind of money to pay,” Njoroge said.

He was stranded at the biggest referral facility at the Coast but on Eid-ul-Fitr, he was among the beneficiaries of Governor Abdulswamad Nassir’s program where the county government and well-wishers paid for the medical bills of patients who had been discharged on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Paul Njuguna, also a beneficiary, also fell while at his house and broke his hand.

“So, I came here and I was admitted on Monday. Now I am okay. I have been treated and I am happy the bill has been paid for me by the governor,” Njguna, who is also diabetic, said.

His medical bill had come to Sh40,000.

Samuel Kinyua, a relative who was with Njuguna throughout his stay at the hospital.

“As a family, we are really thankful for the way the count has held our hands during this difficult period. This burden was too big for us. Indeed, we have had an Eid Mubarak,” Kinyua said.

Maro Mumbo, who had been admitted at the CGTRH since January, could not hide his joy at being released from hospital.

He broke his leg while on a bodaboda, which was involved in an accident at Bombolulu area.

The bill was in excess of Sh190,000.

“I thank the Governor for paying the bill for me,” he said, adding that his family will be surprised to see him home.

Mumbo said nobody in the family expected him to be discharged after failing to raise the Sh190,000.

“I know they will be surprised to see me home. I am eager to reach home,” Mumbo.

His sister, Mnyazi Mumbo, said when he was involved in the accident, family members knew he would either struggle with the pain because they could not imagine him going to a private hospital for treatment.

“When the bil arrived, we could do nothing. We did not have that money and did not know where we could get it from. But thank God, we have seen our governor make arrangements for the bill to be paid for for us,” Mnyazi said.

Nassir said Eid is a time for joy and sharing with the less fortunate and any acts of kindness are greatly rewarded.

He said some well-wishers approached him with the idea of paying for the medical bills of those who had been discharged but who could not pay the pending medical bills.

The Shariff Nassir Foundation, the finance department of the county government and some well-wishers who wished to remain anonymous, are the ones who paid for medical bills of the discharged patients.

“It is a time to share the love and compassion we have with other people who are not as privileged,” Nassir said.