Naivasha level IV hospital board dissolved after woman's death

On Tuesday, irate residents blocked the road leading to the facility to protest the death of 23-year-old Rebecca Wangari who had been admitted to the facility for three days.

While issuing the directive, the County Secretary Dr Samuel Mwaura said the move was part of restructuring the hospital that serves over 1,000 people every day.

He admitted that the hospital faced tens of challenges including staff and medical shortage, which had affected service delivery.

Mwaura said that the county was keen to address the challenges by employing more staff and providing the required drugs and equipment.

"The board of this hospital has failed in its oversight role and been a link to the public and the Governor will be electing new members in the coming weeks," he said.

According to Mwaura, a team had been formed to investigate alleged cases of maternal deaths with promise to take necessary action.

He said the hospital has a debt of Sh250m owed to suppliers making it impossible to offer the required services.

"Suppliers have not been paid since 2020 and many doctors have left for further learning and this has had negative effects on the operations of the hospital," he said.

The county secretary further noted that the failure to promote the medical personnel since 2015 had also affected staff morale adding that this would be addressed in the next one month.

On drug shortage, he said that the county procured drugs worth Sh48m and another batch of Sh100m was on the way.

Viwandani MCA Mwangi Muraya welcomed the move to send the board packing noting that this was part of the measures put in place to improve service delivery in the public hospital.

"We are aware that there are many challenges facing this hospital and we are calling for patience from members of the public as the governor is keen to address them," he said.