The Ministry of Health has intensified a nationwide crackdown on illegal and ghost health facilities to weed out irregularities in the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA) and restore accountability in the healthcare system.
Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale said the crackdown also targets substandard health facilities, announcing the closure of over 1,000 clinics across the country.
He added that an additional 1,000 facilities have been flagged down and were set to be shut down in the coming month.
Speaking at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu, Duale said the ministry has also launched a strict enforcement campaign targeting facilities that operate without proper classification, equipment, or trained personnel.
The move, he said, targets to eliminate substandard and ghost health facilities that defraud Kenyans through fake claims and unqualified service delivery.
“If your facility is level two, you will stay at level two. If you want to move to level 3A or 3B, you must upgrade your facility. You cannot claim to do more surgeries than Kenyatta or Jaramogi with a small room somewhere calling itself a health facility,” he said.
In a bid to ensure accountability, Duale urged Kenyans to report health violations by dialing the Ministry’s hotline—147.
“If a facility is making noise that they have 10 beds but they have put patients on the floor dial 147. Even if you dial, it won’t ring for a second. And if you don’t, we will call you. We will ask you why you called us,” he said.
As part of the wider reforms, Duale announced that beginning next week, the Ministry would introduce a nationwide drugs code system to stop counterfeit and unregulated medicines.
“You cannot dispense pharmaceutical products if you are not a pharmacist. You will not dispense fake drugs. The drugs that Kenyans will get must be approved by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board,” he said.
The crackdown comes as the Ministry accelerates rollout of the Social Health Authority (SHA) and digital health systems nationwide.
Duale, flanked by his senior officials from the Ministry including SHA CEO Dr. Mercy Mwangagngi and Digital Health Agency CEO Anthony Lenaiyara, Director General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth and Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o lauded Kisumu county for remarkable progress in SHA registration.
The county, he said, has so far registered 600,000 people under SHA, against a target of 1.1 million, placing it fifth among the 47 counties.
He added that 39 public health facilities in the county had already been digitized under the SHA model, where patient records and claims are handled electronically from admission to discharge.
The CS commissioned a modern CT scan and mammograph at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), which has been handed over to the national government.
He pledged full national government support to complete the stalled cancer centre to transform the facility into a regional referral centre.
“We are going to transform this hospital into a regional referral centre with all the equipment. I want to assure you that we are going to complete the regional cancer centre so that people in Kisumu and all 14 Lake region counties can access it,” he said.
Duale said SHA was working, calling on those yet to register to do so in order to benefit from an array of services at both public and private health facilities.
He dismissed SHA critics, saying most of them run ghost clinics that have lost revenue streams due to accountability systems.
On a separate note, the CS addressed public concern over a mysterious illness in Mikindani, Mombasa, where four deaths have been reported.
The CS said a team led by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor has been dispatched to Mombasa to carry out investigations.
Samples, he added have been taken to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) laboratories in Kilifi for further investigations.
By Joanne Moraa and Sharon Binzari
