Family of late Kisumu health advisor appeals for Ksh.20M to clear medical bill in South Korea

The family of former Jaramogi Oginga Teaching and Referral Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. George Rae is appealing for help to raise Ksh.20 million to clear a medical bill accrued while he was receiving treatment in South Korea.

Dr. Rae, who was serving as a health advisor with the Kisumu County Department of Medical Services, is reported to have fallen ill while on a work-related tour in the East Asian country and later died while undergoing treatment.

Until his death, Dr. George Rae served as the head of partnerships and resource mobilisation for the Kisumu County Department of Medical Services.

According to the family, Dr. Rae left for a work-related tour to South Korea on November 30, 2025 and they can only cling to a picture that was taken on December 4, 2025, a few minutes before he suddenly fell ill.

“George Rae was well and that is why he was part of a delegation to Korea to go and discuss with Koreans some of the proposed development programmes for the county and for LREB,” the family spokesperson Dr Odera Rogo said.

“They were on a tour of, I am told, the parliament buildings. When they were coming out, as he was getting into the bus, he fell down, was breathless and emergency services were called, and he was taken to a nearby hospital." 

The family has confirmed that Dr. Rae was admitted to the intensive care unit at two major hospitals in South Korea before he succumbed on December 26, 2025, at around 7:00 pm Kenyan time.

They are now facing the challenge of raising about Ksh.20 million to offset the medical bill and daily mortuary charges before they can bring his body home.

“The county wasn’t clear on the extent of responsibility it would take. The bill was amounting to over Ksh.17 million, out of which about Ksh.3 million had been paid from the money that KMA and the family had sent to Korea,” he added.

Before joining the county’s department of medical services, Dr. Rae served as the chief executive officer of the Jaramogi Oginga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu. According to a tribute shared by the hospital, “Papa,” as he was fondly known, pioneered the Sickle Cell Zero movement and the establishment of Warrior Support Groups.

He is celebrated for facilitating the availability of bone marrow transplant services at the facility, as well as other transformative infrastructure, including an oxygen plant that provided life-saving piping to wards during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya Medical Association President Dr. Simon Kigondu also hailed Dr. Rae’s contribution during his tenure as chair of the KMA Managed Healthcare Committee, where he steered health reforms that resulted in a landmark document informing improvements in services under the defunct NHIF, now the Social Health Authority.

A legacy that sharply contrasts with the unfortunate fate that has now befallen the late senior doctor and county advisor, who dedicated his career to making healthcare accessible and affordable to all.

“The health system and government have let our colleague down. That this can happen to a senior official is an indictment of our system. We have been to SHA, and SHA has told us that their policy does not allow them to take care of someone who has fallen sick while outside the country,” Rogo stated.

The Kisumu County Government has committed to supporting the family in meeting the expenses of repatriating Dr. Rae’s body back to Kenya. This, however, is subject to the settlement of the outstanding bill of over Ksh.17 million, which the family says remains their biggest nightmare.

“This person was on official duty for the county and for government. What responsibility is taken here? Is this money too big for the Kenyan government and the county to clear and sort everything out?” Rogo said.

The family’s hope is now pegged on well-wishers to help bring Dr. Rae home and accord him a decent burial.