The Busia government has denied claims that it is detaining patients who are unable to foot their hospital bills.
Deputy Governor Arthur Odera on Thursday said claims that the county referral hospital was unlawfully detaining female patients over unpaid medical bills were untrue.
He said the facility follows a structured waiver process to support vulnerable patients.
There have been claims on social media that the hospital was holding tens of patients, most of them women who are unable to settle their medical bills after discharge.
Odera, however, said the reports could be referring to patients whose waivers are being processed.
He said the hospital has either partly or wholly waived bills for 12 patients since January based on social welfare department assessment reports.
The hospital still has 15 patients with pending bills amounting to Sh750,000 whose assessment for possible waiver is pending.
He added that the county waived bills amounting to Sh335,000 in the month of April alone.
Odera said the waiver process involves detailed investigations, including home visits, to establish the financial status of patients before approvals are made and this should not be interpreted as detention of patients.
“The rigorous waiver process is meant to establish true facts from the background of affected patients to be able to identity deserving cases,” he said.
The county remains committed to helping deserving patients through the hospital’s waiver programme while also ensuring the sustainability of healthcare service delivery, he said.
Odera cited challenges posed by patients from neighbouring Uganda who often lack proper documentation.
“We admit many patients from Uganda, but they do not have proper documentation, making it difficult for them to access SHA or assistance from their country,” he said.
“We also have Kenyans, including minors and adults without national identification cards, which remains a major challenge."
Odera said the hospital relies on patient payments to purchase medicine and non-pharmaceuticals, warning that waiving bills indiscriminately would negatively affect operations.
“We cannot waive bills for everyone because that would cripple the operations of the hospital and the entire health system,” he added.
The deputy governor urged residents to register with the Social Health Authority to reduce cases of patients accumulating huge hospital bills and being unable to secure discharge from hospitals.
Busia County Referral Hospital medical social worker Videlia Makana defended the waiver process, saying only deserving cases benefit after a comprehensive assessment.
“As a hospital, we conduct thorough assessments to ensure only deserving patients benefit from the waiver programme. The report is later presented before the waiver committee before approval is made,” she said.
Makana revealed that some patients are allowed to clear their bills in instalments, although discharge is only processed after payment agreements are completed.
She appealed to local administrators to help ensure adults obtain national identification cards to ease access to healthcare services and SHA registration.
