Family's 8-months agony as their 80-year old kin detained in hospital over bill.

80-year old Virginia Wanjiru Kuria who has since August last year been detained at St Matia Mulumba Mission Hospital for a bill now amounting to sh. 418,210 and still counting.

A family in Thika is appealing to well-wishers to help them offset an outstanding hospital bill for their kin who has been detained in hospital for the last 8 months.

80-year old Virginia Wanjiru Kuria from Endarasha, Muiga, Nyeri has been detained at St Matia Mulumba Mission Hospital since August 2017 after the family failed to pay a medical bill amounting to sh. 82,000.

The bill has since shot to Sh. 418,210.

Virginia was admitted on August 8 2017 after suffering from a stroke. Unknown to the family, she was also suffering from diabetes and needed blood.

After three weeks of treatment, she was discharged but couldn’t be released from hospital since the family was unable to raise the sh. 72,000 after sh. 10,000 was deducted from their deposit.

“Unfortunately, by the time we traced her NHIF Card, she had already been discharged and NHIF could not foot her bill. The hospital management declined to release her until we cleared the balance,” narrated Mary Wagunyu Waigumo, the granny’s daughter.

On 17^th August last year, they managed to raise Sh. 25,000 but the bill had further increased to Sh. 125,000. The management declined to release her, insisting that the bill had to be cleared in totality.

After again soliciting for funds from well-wishers and kin, Mary was again able to raise Sh. 60,000 and paid the amount to the hospital on 3^rd March 2018 but then the balance had shot to Sh. 340,000.

It is sad to note that the granny also suffers from breast cancer and has not been attending chemotherapy sessions at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) as prescribed.

Her right breast has a wound and she needs to be discharged in order to seek further help from KNH. However, the management at St Matia Mulumba Mission Hospital still insists on the family still looking for more funds despite family having exhausted all their options.

Her family’s predicament only points to the jeopardy that poor families find themselves in when hospitals hold on to patients due to unpaid hospital bills. Mary is a fruit vendor in Thika and this family hails from a very poor background and raising such an amount is a tall order.

“If we had land or something valuable, we would give the hospital the ownership documents as a security to allow us to take our mother home. I just want to take my mother home and take good care of her as she resumes her chemotherapy sessions at Kenyatta. We cannot afford to clear the bill for now but keeping my mom in the hospital doesn’t solve the matter. It only complicates the situation,” said the daughter.

The family is now appealing to well-wishers to assist them to get their mother out of hospital.

You can reach the daughter via 0710207910.