Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) management has dispelled claims that patients were turned away as a result of the new social health insurance crisis.
The Chief Executive Ahmed Dagane also dismissed reports that patients were being asked to pay cash for medical services, maintaining that the hospital has overcome the initial challenges brought by transitioning from the National Health Insurance Fund to a new system.
Dagane while admitting that the facility faced challenges on Tuesday when the country transitioned from the old medical cover structure to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), said this has been overcome and services are back to normal.
Patients had complained that they were unable to access treatment under the new Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme while others claimed they were asked to pay cash rather than then through the insurance cover.
“We had some challenges on the first day of the rollout but that has been overcome. There has been a lot of misinformation that patients were turned away or asked to pay cash. We want to forestall those rumours,” Dagane stated.
The CEO spoke when the hospital hosted Safaricom Foundation officials led by the Chairman Ogutu who donated items to new mother’s at the maternity wing.
Dagane who was accompanied by KUTRRH Board Chairperson Prof Olive Mugenda and said the hospital has initiated a partnership with Safaricom on oncology care, telemedicine and ICT.
