From neglect to patients' mistreatment: Inside horrific tales at Jaramogi referral hospital

When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), the largest referral facility in Nyanza and Western Kenya, was elevated to Level 6 status in June 2025, residents welcomed the move with relief and renewed hope that it would be a medical masterstroke for the region.

However, that hope is rapidly evaporating as claims of neglect, dilapidated wards, alleged mistreatment of patients and mismanagement rock the facility.

Over the past three days, the hospital has faced intense public scrutiny amid allegations of severe negligence.

The Sunday Standard established that, hours after the facility came under public scrutiny, patients who had been left in the accident and emergency department and corridors were swiftly moved into overcrowded wards.

The conduct of some nurses and other medical personnel has also come under scrutiny, with a wave of complaints from patients and their relatives alleging mistreatment. The situation has been compounded by wards reportedly in a sorry state.

In some wards, broken windowpanes that have yet to be repaired expose patients to cold nights, while some accident victims claim they have been forced to wait for nearly two months to undergo surgery.

A spot check by The Standard at the facility over the weekend established that, in Ward Two, which accommodates male patients, sections of the windows were covered with cardboard boxes that barely held the panes together as bedridden patients struggled with the cold.

One patient told The Standard that he had been informed he would have to wait two months before undergoing surgery.

A day earlier, his family had been told to arrange for his discharge after complaining that he had been left unattended for nearly a week. They said a nurse had administered first aid before he was confined to a bed.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Several families who have lost loved ones or watched relatives struggle with illnesses at JOOTRH have raised concerns over alleged patient neglect, delayed treatment, poor communication and the conduct of some healthcare workers.

The complaints include allegations of delayed blood transfusions, prolonged discharge procedures, inadequate monitoring of critically ill patients, insensitive treatment of caregivers and delays in responding to emergencies.

For James Otieno, a resident of Nyamasaria in Kisumu, the experience of losing his wife, Grace Winnie, at the hospital in July remains painful. He says he is still seeking answers about her treatment and the handling of blood donated for her transfusion.

Winnie, 41, was a mother of three. She died of cancer on July 23, 2026, and was buried on August 8.

Otieno said his wife had been admitted to JOOTRH after her condition deteriorated. He said he had requested a nurse, whom he remembered as Jennifer, to help secure blood to stabilise her condition.

“I requested her to get just one pint of blood so that we could stabilise the condition of my patient. That was my wife, Grace Winnie. She assured me that she would look into it seriously, and I believed her,” he said.

Otieno said he left the hospital later that day because caregivers were not allowed to remain in the ward overnight, regardless of their patients’ condition.

When he returned the following day, he said, he discovered that his wife had not received the transfusion he had requested.

He said he sought clarification from hospital staff but did not receive a satisfactory explanation.

He subsequently mobilised three friends, who accompanied him to the facility with donated blood, hoping the transfusion would be carried out without further delay.

According to Otieno, he was assured that the procedure would be performed during the day. However, when he returned that evening, his wife told him she had not been transfused and had instead been informed that the procedure would be conducted at night.

He said the same assurances were repeated on Wednesday, July 22, despite the transfusion not having taken place by the time he visited his wife that evening.

Otieno said he tried to speak to the doctor in charge to establish what was happening but was told the doctor was unavailable, leaving him uncertain about whether efforts were being made to stabilise his wife's condition.

He said that during the night, Winnie attempted to walk to the toilet but collapsed because she lacked the strength to continue.

According to Otieno, fellow patients helped her get back up because no family member was nearby to assist her, while nurses were also absent from the ward.

He said the incident left him distressed and reinforced his belief that the hospital should consider allowing relatives to remain with critically ill patients or make alternative arrangements for their care.

Otieno said the family made several attempts to get the hospital to respond to their concerns, but to no avail.

He later received a phone call asking him to go to the facility, only to discover that another patient was occupying his wife's bed.

He searched the room and asked other patients about Winnie's whereabouts, but said no one immediately explained what had happened.

He eventually approached a woman standing nearby, who gestured towards an area outside the ward.

Otieno said he went towards the toilets, where hospital trolleys were kept, and found his wife's body covered with a white bedsheet.

“I went straight to where they had parked the trolleys, next to the toilets, and found the body of my wife covered in a white bedsheet,” he said.

He alleged that he struggled to get anyone to listen to him or provide answers, but the hospital workers he approached did not give him an audience.

He also claimed that he was denied access to his wife's medical file despite requesting it to help him understand the circumstances surrounding her death.

“To date, I have not received that file. They told me they would communicate, but I have not been given the opportunity to go through it and understand what really happened,” he said.

Similar concerns were raised by Grace Akinyi, whose mother died at JOOTRH on July 22, 2026, after being admitted on July 12.

Akinyi, who was outside the country when her mother was first admitted, said she kept in touch with her siblings, particularly her sister Elizabeth, who was the main caregiver at the hospital.

She said the family's difficulties began on the night of admission, when her mother was allegedly unable to secure a bed and spent the night in the casualty section.

Although the family accepted the explanation that no beds were available, Akinyi said the admission process the following day took a long time.

Her mother, who was unable to walk, was eventually admitted to a general ward and placed in a room with another patient whom the family described as mentally ill and aggressive.

Akinyi said her sister was concerned about their mother's safety because she could neither stand nor move independently.

“My sister refused to leave because she did not trust that our mother was safe in that place,” she said.

The family subsequently decided to seek a discharge so they could take their mother to another facility.

However, Akinyi alleged that the discharge process dragged on for more than a day, during which her mother remained critically ill.

She said the family's concerns deepened when her sister was left with a box of injectable medicines but, according to their account, could not obtain the assistance they needed from healthcare workers.

Akinyi said her mother was in pain, prompting her to contact a doctor she knew through an acquaintance to request assistance.

She said the doctor made calls to the hospital, after which a nurse arrived but allegedly confronted her sister for contacting another doctor.

“She came quarrelling with my sister, asking whether she was the one who had called the doctor. She told her that they would leave us to deal with our patient,” Akinyi said.

She described the experience as distressing, saying the family became afraid that raising further complaints would worsen the situation.

According to Akinyi, the family had initially considered transferring their mother to Avenue Hospital but eventually decided to move her to JOOTRH's Prime Care private wing after the prolonged discharge process and the deterioration of her condition.

During one of the updates, she said, the family learnt that her mother's bedding had become wet and that nurses had reportedly indicated it would be changed later.

The family decided to buy incontinence bed sheets, commonly known as Mackintosh sheets, and send them to Kisumu because they feared raising further complaints.

“We did not want to risk asking any more questions because of the kind of quarrels we had already experienced at the hospital,” she said.

As her mother's condition deteriorated, she was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Akinyi said the family's concerns persisted, with relatives alleging that their requests for assistance were repeatedly met with instructions to leave the ward.

She said the family felt humiliated by the experience, claiming that her sister at one point knelt while pleading with nurses for permission to feed their mother.

Akinyi said her mother died on the night of July 22.

Emma Adhiambo, who has been taking her father to JOOTRH for treatment of chronic kidney disease since June, said her family had repeatedly experienced difficulties in the renal unit and Ward Seven.

She said her father required regular dialysis and other medical interventions, but alleged that some nurses were dismissive of his condition and the family's concerns.

Adhiambo said that when they brought her father for a blood transfusion, they were sometimes told that he had come only for the procedure and that they should not raise other concerns.

She said this left her worried about what would happen if his condition deteriorated while he was receiving treatment.

One incident in August particularly troubled her. Adhiambo said her father began showing signs of convulsions at about 9pm, prompting the family to call a nurse.

According to her, the nurse did not arrive until about 2am and left after briefly checking on him.

Adhiambo said she raised the matter with the doctor who usually attended to her father the following morning, after which he was diagnosed with a mild stroke.

She alleged that her father sometimes remained in the renal unit for days without receiving the attention the family expected.

In another account, Calosine Okelo of Ahero, Kisumu County, said her sister died at JOOTRH on October 3, 2026, after being referred from Ahero County Hospital.

Okelo said they arrived at JOOTRH at about 5pm on Friday, October 2, using private transport after being informed that the ambulance was unavailable and would return later.

Her sister, who could not walk, had to be moved around the facility in a wheelchair as the family sought admission.

Okelo said the process involved visits to the billing department and the Social Health Authority (SHA) office before admission approval was obtained at about 1am.

Despite completing the process, she said, the family was informed that no bed was available.

Okelo alleged that her sister remained in the wheelchair for hours without receiving the medical attention she needed.

She said that at about 12.30pm the following day, she pleaded with a nurse to help find a bed for her sister, who was struggling to breathe.

According to Okelo, a bed became available after another patient was taken to theatre.

She said she lifted her sister onto the bed, but her sister died before the nurse could look for a vein to administer treatment.

In a statement issued on October 8, 2026, JOOTRH Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Joshua Clinton-Okise said the hospital had taken note of concerns raised publicly by Akinyi and had commenced investigations.

The hospital said it remained committed to providing safe, compassionate, respectful and quality healthcare services. It also welcomed feedback that could help improve service delivery and strengthen accountability.

The statement followed a public backlash against the facility after one of the relatives who lost her mother recounted her experience at the hospital.