Cooperative Bank has given Governor Sakaja 1M to help release detained patients

Cooperative Bank of Kenya has donated 1M shillings in a bid to support Governor Johnson Sakaja’s directive of releasing patients detained in county hospitals over unpaid bills.

Sakaja who shared the good news on Twitter thanked the company for their kindness and for helping ensure that people spend Christmas with their families.

"Very grateful to Cooperative Bank for their kind gesture and donation of one million shillings to support our initiative where all who had been detained at our County Hospitals were released to go home to spend Christmas with their families, May God bless you so much," read his tweet.

Governor Sakaja (left) receives donations from Cooperative Bank. Pulse Live Kenya

READ: Governor Sakaja on the spot over county executive appointment

This donation comes a few days after Sakaja ordered Nairobi County Government hospitals to release patients over unpaid bills this holiday season.

Mr. Sakaja took to Social Media on Monday, December 19, 2022, to announce his decree stating that his administration would pay their outstanding bills.

He argued it was even more expensive for the hospitals to cater to the patient's needs and expenses so there was no need for them to remain restricted in hospitals.

The Governor added that detaining them in hospitals meant depriving urgent medical attention to those that needed it the most.

Governor Johnson Sakaja [Twitter] Pulse Live Kenya

“I’ve directed that all persons detained at our county hospitals because of non-payment be released to go home to be with their families this Christmas.

“We will pay. In many cases, it is even more expensive to cater for them in terms of food, etc, and patients who need space miss it," wrote Sakaja on Twitter.

The city government's announcement comes two months after his impromptu visit to Mama Lucy hospital in Embakasi, where the hospital's poor state of affairs and congestion moved him.

"Mothers should not be sharing beds, patients not being attended to on time, drugs not being available.

I apologise on behalf of the previous administration as well as the NMS for the state of things. We will take better care of you. I will not rest until we achieve this, the governor assured,” said the governor in September.

He also appointed an eight-member task force that would assess the status of all public health facilities, review current human resource capacity as well as the supply chain management of pharma and non-pharma products.

The committee was also required to assess the health information management system and propose interventions toward a comprehensive system, and review and propose an efficient health financing model.