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{
    "id": 143346,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/143346/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 167,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Medical Services",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) Currently, there are no bodies detained at the KNH mortuary as a consequence of inability to pay hospital bills. Nonetheless, there is an accumulation of 501 bodies in both the private and general wings. Twenty one bodies are classified as unclaimed and will be disposed off in accordance with the Public Health Act in liaison with the Nairobi City Council. The Public Health Act, Cap 242, obligates mortuaries to dispose of unclaimed bodies after 10 days. However, KNH normally preserves the bodies for 21 days, after which they are passed on to the Nairobi City Council for disposal. This is an attempt to avoid public health hazards. (b) The hospital waiver policy was not scrapped in February 2009 as claimed but its use was limited to cater for abandoned patients, destitutes, orphans, aged persons, the mentally challenged and street families. However, since the KNH provides terms of subsidized specialized care, both waiver and credit facilities are managed to ensure sufficient revenue is generated to meet the hospital’s operating expenses. (c) There are no patients detained by the KNH due to inability to pay their bills. Moreover, 599 patients have declined to pay cost-shared bills without proper justification or to negotiate for credit facilities. It should be noted that the hospital charges Kshs450 per day per patient to cater for food accommodation, which translates to Kshs269, 550 per day for the same. The patients have been assessed by the hospital’s social workers and found to be in a position to cost-share for medical bills, as provided for in the Government policy on cost-sharing which is highly subsidized. (d) My Ministry is currently fast-tracking hospital reforms which include revitalizing the referral system. The KNH is programmed to benefit from these reforms with a view to ensuring that only referred patients and emergency cases are treated at the hospital."
}