This archive report was first published on 24 October 2021.
On August 15, Paul Kimathi, a 62-year-old man from Meru County, was rushed to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms. He eventually succumbed to the disease on October 3, but his family's ordeal did not end there.
According to his wife, Rose Kimathi, they first took him to a hospital in Kasarani, Nairobi, which referred them to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for ventilator services. However, they could not find a bed for him in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and they had to rush against time to save his life.
They eventually found a bed for Kimathi at Al-Amin Hospital in Eastleigh after paying a Sh100,000 deposit. After three weeks in ICU, his health improved, and it was time for him to go back home. However, the family received a bill that saw them surrender a title deed for their only property - a quarter acre of land.
The hospital declined the deed, preferring payment in cash. The family raised Sh2 million to offset part of the bill, but Kimathi was not yet discharged when he eventually succumbed to fresh complications.
His wife, Rose, said they wanted to take the body to the mortuary as they made burial preparations but the hospital could not release the body to them. Instead, they took the body to a mortuary near KNH where it is still being held.
However, Dr. Abdi Adan, a director at the hospital, said they had actually waived part of the fee, to enable the family to settle the bill and collect the body. From the original Sh3.2 million bill, the hospital had waived Sh980,000. The family can surrender some security for them to get the body for burial, Dr. Adan said.
