Hospital stuck with unidentified patient

Beatrice Sasa, 30, a South Sudanese who has been at Kisumu County Hospital since July 2017. [Denish Ochieng/Standard]

Kisumu County Referral Hospital is stuck with a patient who has been at its psychiatric ward, and whose pregnancy is a subject of debate.

Although the hospital administration says the patient was pregnant when she was admitted, some sources say she may have conceived while at the facility. She delivered a baby boy early this month.

There are contradicting accounts as to when the woman was actually admitted to the ward following an accident. According to hospital records seen by The Standard, an unnamed person took the patient, 30, to the hospital on July 11, last year at 4.13pm following a road accident in Kisumu. But hospital authorities say the woman was taken to the facility on November 17, last year, and was later found to have been pregnant.

There is also confusion over her nationality. While medical records show she is from South Sudan, the woman first told The Standard she hailed from the north, but later requested for a piece of paper on which she wrote that she hailed from Danipi Opanga in South Sudan. She named her father as Michael Olumu and grandmother, who apparently worked at a hotel in Kisumu, as Sarah. She said her former school was Mengo. She is of light complexion.

The woman has no recollection of the accident that led to her admission. She sustained injuries on the left leg, shoulder and head. Mary Onyisi, a nurse at the gynecological ward, says the patient might have ended up at the psychiatric ward simply because she could not communicate to nurses.

The nurse said the patient nursed her pregnancy at the psychiatric ward until it was visible. She delivered and was then transferred to the gynecology ward two weeks ago.

Eunice Gor, a social worker, said the Good Samaritan who brought her to the facility did not leave contacts. No one has looked for her since. Gor said the last time the woman gave information, she spoke English. The patient told The Standard she came to the country to visit a friend. She says if taken to South Sudan she would trace her people.

Gor said there were many such cases at the hospital. “Some families are not willing to pick their kin for lack of funds,” she said.