Fraud allegations push Nairobi Women's Hospital CEO out of office

The Nairobi Women's Hospital CEO Felix Wanjala has stepped aside to allow investigations into fraud allegations at the facility.

He admitted the allegations were serious and said him stepping aside was to allow the investigation team to do their work.

“I have taken time to think about this, although I don’t believe the allegations are true. I would want our patients to regain confidence in us as a healthcare provider. To achieve this we need we need an independent review of our operations,” he said in a memo to its staff on Saturday.

The hospital has been accused of admitting and detaining patients unnecessarily just to hit financial targets.

However, Mr Wanjala holds they are innocent and that the facility was not putting revenue ahead of patient care in their operations.

The hospital had earlier announced that it was conducting an internal review on the allegations along with an independent one by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council.

The report has not been made public neither did the CEO comment on it.

The hospital CEO’s decision to step aside comes in the wake of a feud between health insurers and the hospital over claims of inflating patient medical bills.

Seven health insurers suspended their services with Nairobi Women’s Hospital on February 5. They include Jubilee, Britam, UAP, AAR, APA, CIC and GA Insurance.

The Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) said the suspension of the facility was indefinite as a “thorough review” on quality and costs of the hospital’s services is conducted.

“All medical insurers have from February 5, 2020 suspended Nairobi Women’s Hospital from their list of accredited service providers. This follows recent accusations made in the media against the institution,” said AKI in a statement.

The regulator said the suspension would not affect insured customers already admitted to the hospital.

“Billing and settlement of expenses incurred by these customers will not be affected,” said AKI.

Kenya Revenue Authority also suspended the facility from its list of approved medical care providers.

In a memo dated February 5, 2020, the taxman advised its staff to access medical services from other approved health providers.