KMPDC suspends all eight hospitals implicated in NHIF scandal

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has suspended all eight medical facilities identified by Health Cabinet Secretary Nakhumicha Wafula as having allegedly siphoned funds from the National Health and Insurance Fund (NHIF).

This follows an exposé that revealed that a number of private hospitals are part of an elaborate syndicate working with unscrupulous NHIF staff to rob unsuspecting citizens and government of the healthcare funds.

Addressing the media from his office in Nairobi on Thursday, KMPDC Chair Prof. Stanley Khainga noted that the health facilities, which are largely domiciled in Nairobi, Kiambu and Nyeri counties, will remain closed until investigations are concluded by relevant authorities.

"Following CS Nakhumicha's order, we as KMPDC wrote to those institutions and suspended their licenses," said Prof. Khainga.

He added that despite CS Nakhumicha calling for the closure of the hospitals on Tuesday, some were still operational on Wednesday, further noting that the institutions finally adhered to the minister's decree on Thursday.

"This morning, we went there to make sure that they followed the decree and I am happy to say that they have suspended operations and made arrangements to transfer in-patients to other facilities," he said.

"As a medical council we feel that some of the issues that were unearthed are quite unethical. I would like to advise my colleagues to make sure that they provide services at the highest standard while adhering to ethics and the Hippocratic Oath that we all took."

On his part, KMPDC CEO Dr. David Kariuki noted that despite suspending the eight facilities, investigations into them will still continue.

"These inspections will continue to ensure that compliance is followed all through until the processes that are being undertaken are completed," he said.

"We would also like to assure Kenyans that KMPDC is committed to protect them from harm whenever they are receiving services and they are free. KMPDC is open to receive their complaints to ensure that the medical practitioners who are treating them continue providing quality health services to them."

Dr. Kariuki added that the suspensions will be followed by intensive investigations to determine whether any patients are entitled to compensations by the said hospitals.

"The suspensions allow us to get deeper into the issues that have been raised. We will look at what patients were treated, what treatments were given and whether they were in line with the diagnosis given to the patients," he said.

"Once we talk to the hospitals and have discussions with the doctors who treated them we will then determine whether there is merit that a malpractice happened or did not happen. If malpractices are discovered then the issue of compensation comes in."