PHOTO CAPTION: Shalom Group of Hospitals Head of Clinical Operations Dr Helen Omari Healthcare workers at Shalom Community Hospital in Athi River have accused the management of unlawfully withholding their August and September wages.
Writing to this blog on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, an employee who spoke to us on request of anonymity claimed that the stubborn administration is adamant about clearing the pending dues.
According to the insider, Head of Clinical Operations Dr Helen Onyango has been selling a narrative to the workers that the hospital's coffers are dry, hence they should exercise some patience.
But to most of them, this hardly makes any sense, considering the fact that the private facility is recognized for providing integrated healthcare in Kenya through accreditation by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). "Hi, Nyakundi, Shalom Hospital Athi River has not paid their workers the salary of last month to date. They keep telling workers that there's no money to pay for workers yet the facility is NHIF accredited facility. Kindly share this information and tag NHIF for them to take action. Dr Helen Omari is in charge of the facility," the source writes.
Back in May 2019, the controversial hospital was shut down after investigations revealed that the death of Ethan Muendo, a 7-month-old boy who had been taken to the facility with mild burns, died after receiving an overdose of morphine from a nurse at the facility.
Morphine, which is a drug prescribed medically to relieve pain can be deadly when in overdose.
As a result, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board revoked the practising permit for the facility in a fiasco that saw Managing Director George Onyango and two other staff members put under custody.
Earlier in the same year, the facility was on the spot again two weeks ago after a woman delivered on the hospital’s floor in a case viewed as of negligence.
A few weeks later, they regained their license.
KMPDB said they had complied with all recommendations it had made after the hospital's closure.