SHA Clears Air Over Ksh20M Payment to Ghost Hospital

The Social Health Authority (SHA) has clarified that Nyandiwa Hospital, which was reported to be a ghost facility, exists and has received Ksh82million since the rollout of the new health insurance system.

In a statement dated Friday, August 22, SHA CEO Mercy Mwangangi stated the facility was started as a dispensary in the 1970s and has grown over the years to a Level 4 facility.

However, despite the transition, the facility still holds the account under the dispensary name, hence the Ksh20 million payment to the account under the dispensary name.

"Nyandiwa Level 4 Hospital, Gwassi, Suba South, Homa Bay County, has been operational since the 1970s. The facility was formerly Nyandiwa Dispensary and was subsequently upgraded to a Level 4 hospital," read the statement in part.

"In line with standard practice, the hospital retained its existing bank account under the name "Nyandiwa Dispensary" as it transitioned to Level 4. Many facilities across the country that began as dispensaries or sub-district hospitals maintain their original bank account names after upgrading."

Regarding the abandoned facility that was exposed in the media, SHA stated that the facility had not been contracted to offer services.

SHA insisted that the abandoned facility is a separate entity from Nyandiwa Hospital.

"SHA does not and will never disburse funds to non-existent or uncontracted facilities. Every payment is subject to rigorous verification to safeguard public funds and strengthen health service delivery," the CEO clarified.

"We urge media outlets to exercise basic due diligence and fact-checking before publication. A simple verification with SHA or the Homa Bay County Department of Health would have clarified the distinction between Nyandiwa Level 4 Hospital (an operational facility with active claims) and the uncommissioned structure visited by journalists."

Earlier, in a report, the Daily Nation reported that the facility was abandoned 10 years ago. The publication also sought confirmation from the county government regarding the abandoned facility.

According to the county official, the payments were an error with the money rewired to the Level 4 facility.

"The dispensary is not empanelled in SHA and has not signed a contract with the authority. It doesn't exist physically in their system and county systems," Homa Bay County Director of Public Health Amos Dullo stated.

"I asked the same question today and was told it was an error and that the Ksh20 million had been rewired to Nyandiwa Level Four Hospital, which confirmed receiving the amount."

The news of the payment to the dispensary has raised eyebrows among Kenyans, given the payment to ghost hospitals that was witnessed in the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which saw taxpayers lose billions of shillings in the scheme.