Patients at a top hospital in Migori County were forced to sleep with a dead body for 8 hours on Thursday last week.
The incident happened after a man was taken ill at the Rongo Sub-County Hospital on Thursday evening but died at around midnight while receiving treatment. His body lay at the hospital until 4pm on Friday.
The corpse caused fear and panic among the patients who had been admitted in the same ward but were left with no option other than persevere.
“We were not at ease in this room where the person died. My cousin was visibly shaken and traumatised because the body was in the bed immediately next to his,” Peter Owino, a patient disclosed.
Confirming the incident, the hospital’s Medical Officer, Ruwa Mwatelah, attributed the situation to lack of a government mortuary in the area.
Mwatelah added that the only mortuary in the county was Migori Referral Hospital, which was kilometres away and there were no ambulance vehicles available at the hospital.
“We always release bodies to any mortuary when there are family members involved. The ministry is yet to create a room in the hospital where we can store the dead so as to prevent fear and trauma for those still being treated, Mwatelah was reported.
The County Health Executive Joseph Nyamita disclosed plans to build a mortuary in Rongo to ensure the situation doesn’t happen again.
“These things need planning as they involve logistics and finances but we are thinking of something, however small. The incident at Rongo was bad,” Nymaita said.