KMPDC probes private city hospital for detaining baby over Sh3 million bill
Esther Ulavu, the baby’s mother, says her one-year-old was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) from Loitoktok but ended up at Abyan Hospital without her consent.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has commenced immediate investigations into the detention of a baby at Abyan Hospital in Eastleigh over an unpaid bill of Sh3 million.
Esther Ulavu, the baby’s mother, says her one-year-old was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) from Loitoktok but ended up at Abyan Hospital without her consent.
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She told Citizen TV that since June, she has been blocked from seeing the child, harassed by hospital staff and forced to pay extra charges in the midst of her son’s medical emergency.
Ulavu said the ordeal began on June 12, when a corrective surgery on her child took a tragic turn. She claimed the operating surgeon demanded Sh5,000 before agreeing to carry out the procedure.
“He told me I needed to send Sh5,000 to buy a pipe. On Monday, I called to explain I hadn’t managed to raise the money, and he told me that if I didn’t get it, then the child would not be operated on,” Ulavu said.
The operating surgeon, Dr Henry Kiprono, confirmed he requested the payment, stating it was a routine situation.
“I think we talked to the mother. That was for the catheter. We do operations, and some things are not available in the hospital, and we inform the patient,” he said.
However, after the surgery was performed, the situation worsened. Esther said her child was allegedly overdosed on anaesthesia, resulting in two cardiac arrests. According to her, doctors admitted that the baby’s brain lacked oxygen for several minutes, plunging him into a coma. The hospital then recommended an urgent referral to KNH.
But a new demand soon followed: Sh50,000 to initiate the transfer.
“If your child is being referred to Kenyatta, you need to find Sh50,000. I told them I didn’t have it. They said, ‘Find it, the child is deteriorating.’ I came and paid via paybill, but they also wanted me to pay the doctors in Loitoktok,” Ulavu said.
She said she complied, thinking this would finally ensure her son received critical care. But the ambulance, instead of taking them to Kenyatta, diverted to Abyan Hospital in Eastleigh, a facility never mentioned in the referral documents.
“We arrived and they told us to get out, that we’d arrived. I asked, ‘Is this Kenyatta?’ The ambulance driver and the nurses said that’s where they were instructed to go. The ambulance guy also said he couldn’t proceed to a facility he hadn’t been directed to,” she said.
She added that by then, the child’s condition had severely deteriorated.
At Abyan, Esther alleged that she was denied access to her child, physically assaulted and verbally abused.
In video footage aired by Citizen TV, a hospital administrator identified as Abdi is seen slapping Esther after her husband was reportedly beaten for demanding to see the baby. Abdi is also seen harassing patients and warning Esther she would not be allowed near the child unless she cleared the medical bill.
The family pleaded for intervention by the Ministry of Health, demanding that the baby be transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital as initially intended.
The medical superintendent at Loitoktok Hospital, Dr Ezekiel Kapkoni, distanced his facility from the diversion, stating that the referral letter clearly indicated KNH.
“If the patient is handed to another facility, he indicates that the patient was handed over and in this condition, and that is all. We have a written referral letter,” Dr Kapkoni said.
In a statement on Wednesday, KMPDC said it had already facilitated the child’s transfer to Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital and launched a full investigation in collaboration with relevant authorities.
“The Council expresses deep concern over a distressing incident involving the detention of a child… Such actions are wholly unacceptable, constitute a serious breach of trust, and undermine the integrity of Kenya’s healthcare system,” KMPDC CEO Dr David Kariuki said.
“The detention of patients, particularly vulnerable individuals such as children, violates the principles of compassionate and professional healthcare delivery.”
KMPDC urged all health facilities to enhance patient protection systems and uphold ethical standards. The Council reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding public trust in the medical sector and ensuring those responsible are held to account.
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