A baby who had been detained at a Nakuru hospital as his mother could not clear his medical bill has been discharged. This is after the County Government and the County Assembly of Nakuru came to his family’s plight and cleared the bill that stood close to sh600,000.
Baby Jeremy was born at a private hospital in December last year but after developing complications he was referred to the War Memorial hospital, also a private hospital in the county for specialized attention.
By the time his bill was being cleared by the County Administration it was standing at sh591,068. His mother, Olivia Osidiana, who is an attendant at the Nakuru Rural Water and Sanitation Services is said to have offered a land title deed to the hospital but its administration had declined saying it had many of such.
Nakuru County Secretary Joseph Motari said the money to clear the bill was sourced from the county’s emergency kitty.
“The county government is obliged to ensure her people are healthy, this is why it has stepped in to pay the entire bill of the baby to allow him have time with his mother,” he said.
Speaker Susan Kihika stated the assembly’s commitment to push for the welfare of residents by passing laws that promote maternal and child health and access to health facilities to all.
While commending the move to set Baby Jeremy free from the hospital, Irene Paul, a nominated Member of County Assembly (MCA) said there was need to pass laws that address such special cases. Irene also called for more funding towards meeting health related facilities while stressing on improvement of specialized services on maternal and child health care in the county.
“In the next financial year we should have an allocation in our budget on handling special cases.”
It will be noted that all maternity services in government hospitals are free. According to the Jubilee government manifesto there are to be established low-cost diagnostic centers in all counties. This includes provision of “adequate screening and treatment facilities for persons with chronic or terminal conditions including cancer, diabetes and kidney failure.”
“We have already passed a motion for the creation of a cancer center in the county. What we need now is funding,” said Irene.
