A Ruiru man has threatened to leave his wife and remarry if a community hospital does not release her despite a Sh2 million bill.
John Gitonga accuses the hospital in Kasarani of deliberately worsening his wife Esther Wanyoike's condition to extend her stay and inflate the bill.
She was admitted for back surgery and now has a serious wound to her leg.
"If they will not let her go, I will leave her with them because my life has come to a standstill. I am appealing for help from anyone," Gitonga told the Star.
He is a knife-sharpener, Esther is a vegetable seller. They have two children.
"I cannot afford the bill. Even if they took my bicycle and sold it, I still would not be able yo afford it," Gitonga said.
He was taking care of his wife every day after she fell and injured her spine five months ago.
After she was rejected by several hospitals, well-wishers offered to take her to the community hospital.
The hospital management was not immediately available for comment. A nurse, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Esther had suffered bedsores and the husband had been in agreement with all the measures taken.
"They admitted her and said she needed surgery to fix her spine. They asked for S100,000, which the well-wishers paid," he told the Star. The well-wishers were mostly extended family members.
Before she could undergo surgery, the hospital needed spinal samples from her neck, her husband said.
"Well-wishers pooled in their resources to help us because we couldn't manage the bills," Esther told the Star from her hospital bed.
When Esther returned from surgery, she noticed that her left leg had been bandaged.
"I asked the doctors for a week why I was covered up but they did not give me an answer," she said.
Her back improved but as soon as the bandage on the leg was removed, a wound was revealed.
"It was the size of my palm and it had pus all over it," she said. The hospital needed money to clean the wound and required specialised equipment, Gitonga said.
He had to hire the equipment from a private consultant.
"We paid in cash for the wound to be cleaned using a special machine. We were paying Sh20,000 a week which the well-wishers were providing," he said.
The wound was cleaned for two months yet Esther complained of more pain.
"Her brother said the wound was getting bigger instead of healing and they insisted on surgery. In surgery they removed some flesh from the leg and bandaged her up," he said.
The wound has gradually been healing for two months.
She has undergone three surgeries for Sh242,000, excluding hiring the equipment
The bill has continued to rise due to her stay at the hospital. It nos stands at more than Sh2 million.
When well-wishers were no longer able to help, he turned to NHIF. "My cover catered for Sh230,00 which was not enough," he said.
He has no property, no title deed, no car logbook to offer the hospital to secure Esther's release.
The nurse who took care of Esther also told the Star, "She was bedridden and could not walk. When she came in, she had a blister which later developed into the wound after it burst."
There was no reason for the hospital to inflict the wound, he said. After the back surgery, the doctors left a drain on her back but not on her leg, she added.
"We had a specialised doctor come and do a flapping procedure because the wound was wide,"s he said.
The nurse added they were in agreement with the husband and she was surprised at his account.
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