Patients seeking treatment at Kegonga Sub-County Hospital in Migori County are raising concerns over the availability of medical personnel after a resident claimed to have visited the facility on two consecutive days without receiving timely medical attention.
In a complaint sent to Nyakundi Report, the patient describes a public hospital where sick residents are asked to return another day because doctors are unavailable, while mothers and other patients spend hours waiting for assistance.
The complaint raises questions about staffing, supervision and the reliability of healthcare services at a facility expected to serve residents of Kegonga and surrounding communities.
The complainant says the first incident occurred on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, when they visited the hospital while feeling unwell but were informed that no doctors were available and advised to return the following day. Still sick, the patient returned on Wednesday, October 21, at approximately 10 a.m., only to discover that the doctor had not arrived. At the waiting area, several mothers were seated without nurses attending to them. The patient says the situation is not unusual, people frequently spend hours at the hospital without receiving the attention they need.
The reported absence of doctors and nurses during normal daytime hours deserves an explanation from the hospital's management. A sub-county hospital is an important part of Kenya's public healthcare system, providing treatment to residents who may not have the money or means to travel to larger referral facilities. While not every doctor is necessarily on duty throughout the day, a hospital offering round-the-clock services should have arrangements for attending to patients, assessing urgent cases and referring those requiring specialised treatment.
If a patient arrives while unwell and is told to return the next day, the management should be able to explain whether an alternative clinician was available, what assessment was conducted and why treatment could not be provided.
The complaint also raises concerns about the conduct of some hospital employees, with the patient claiming that money sometimes appears to receive greater attention than the medical needs of those seeking treatment.
Nevertheless, the Migori County Department of Health should establish whether patients are being asked to make payments before receiving necessary attention, whether the charges are authorised and whether staff are following the facility's procedures for handling patients who require urgent care.
The complaint sent to Nyakundi Report reads in full,
Hello nyakundi kindly hide my identityPUBLIC COMPLAINT: POOR SERVICES AT KEGONGA SUB-COUNTY HOSPITAL I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the services at Kegonga Hospital.On Tuesday, I was unwell and went to the hospital for treatment. Despite it being a Sub-County Hospital that is supposed to serve the public 24 hours, I was told to come back the next day because there were no doctors. I woke up sick again and went back yesterday at 10:00 AM. The doctor had still not arrived. At the waiting area, there were many mothers seated, waiting for help, but there were no nurses to attend to them. Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened. Many patients are left unattended for hours. And when you do find some staff, the main concern seems to be money instead of helping the patient. This is very wrong for a public hospital. People go there because they are vulnerable and need urgent help.I call upon: The Hospital Management, The Sub-County Health Department, And the Migori County Government, To look into this matter urgically and ensure doctors and nurses are available to serve patients as required.Patients deserve dignity, timely treatment, and care.
The Migori County Government is responsible for managing county health facilities, including ensuring adequate personnel, supervision and continuity of essential services.
The County Department of Health should therefore establish how many doctors, clinical officers and nurses are assigned to Kegonga Sub-County Hospital, how many were scheduled to work on the dates mentioned and whether the facility has experienced persistent staffing gaps. Attendance registers, duty rosters and patient records would help establish what happened during the reported visits and whether similar complaints have been raised previously.
Under Article 43 of the Constitution, every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including healthcare services, and no person should be denied emergency medical treatment. These protections place an important responsibility on public healthcare institutions to ensure that patients requiring urgent attention are assessed and assisted appropriately. A resident seeking treatment at a sub-county hospital should not have to depend on the chance arrival of a particular doctor before receiving any medical assessment.
The question for Migori County's health leadership is why a resident says they visited Kegonga Sub-County Hospital on two consecutive days without receiving timely treatment, and what is being done to ensure that patients who arrive sick are attended to rather than told to return another day.