Once again, The Pumwani Maternity Hospital, "a hospital whose vision is to be an autonomous, efficient maternity hospital where all mother receive comprehensive essential maternity care," is on the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
The storming of the facility by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Monday has elicited varied responses.
Dr Nelly Bosire, an Obstetrician has criticised Sonko for being "uninformed". She was referring to the fact that the colonial-era facility has no mortuary for infants, no body-bags and other facilities and that the County Government had not met all the requests to improve services by the hospital.
On Twitter Dr Bosire posted: "But did Sonko bother to find out this? Nope. He chose to call it sinister because he did not understand it. He proceeded to suspend the team without investigation".
Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has since asked the sector's regulatory agencies to look into the matter. She expects the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDU), Nursing Council of Kenya and clinical officers Council to report back within 24 hours.
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has also waded into the matter and ordered an investigation on the matter.
Pumwani Maternity Hospital has long lost its glory, was the pioneer maternity hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pumwani, is derived from the Kiswahili word which means to breathe.
By 1944 the Hospital services were under the Municipal Council of Nairobi. Reports indicate that the facility's services grew gradually from a bed capacity of 27 to 75 in 1969. During the same period the, deliveries increased from 3000 to 8000 annually.
Kenya's first President Jomo Kenyatta presided over the expansion of new units of the hospital in 1969. This comprised a new block with a bed capacity of 117, an Operation theatre, a modern 50- bed unit for neonates, an X-ray department and a laboratory
Fast forward,
Even with the health sector receiving a jab of change every now and then, the facility, in 2018, is plagued by financing and equipping issues.
In a presser, the Committee Executive Commission (CEC) has accounted for all the deaths from September 11 to September 17.
“We can account for all the deaths,” Timami said.
In bid to purge its reputation, the facility's management has since admitted that it only has a holding room and not a morgue.
