Never Take Your Patient To St Francis Community Hospital, Kasarani: A Heartbreaking Account Of Medical Negligence And Corporate Greed
The medical facility you entrust with the life and well-being of a loved one is expected to embody care, professionalism, and above all, humanity.
Unfortunately, our ordeal at St. Francis Community Hospital in Kasarani proved that not all hospitals meet these fundamental expectations. The trauma, pain, and negligence we experienced demand a public outcry and immediate accountability from the management of the hospital.
Below is a retelling of my story — one that should serve as a stern warning to anyone considering taking their patient to this facility.
Read Also: Healthcare Drowning In Print Delays, New Epson Study Indicates
It all began on a typical Saturday night, with a phone call no family wants to receive: a serious motorbike accident had occurred. Our loved one had sustained a deep cut on the head and was unconscious. With panic setting in, we rushed to St. Francis Community Hospital after being transferred from another inadequate facility, St. John’s Community Hospital in Githurai. Little did we know, our troubles were far from over.
Upon arriving at St. Francis Community Hospital, the emergency situation was evident — a deep head wound, unconsciousness, and time running out. However, instead of receiving immediate medical attention, we were faced with an unforgivable delay. The hospital staff flatly refused to perform first aid until we paid for admission and services upfront.
The horror of watching a loved one lying helpless as bureaucratic protocols took precedence over human life is beyond words. We stood there in disbelief as precious minutes slipped away — time that could have been spent saving a life was instead wasted in a long queue to make payments.
Read Also: Two-Thirds of Healthcare Organizations Hit By Ransomware – A Four-Year High
After 30 agonizing minutes, we finally managed to pay Ksh 2,000 for admission and Ksh 8,430 for a CT scan. Only then did the hospital staff take the patient in, dressing the wound and wheeling her into the CT scan room. The CT scan revealed the next steps, but the wait for a surgeon stretched until the following morning, when the patient regained some consciousness at around 5 a.m. For her to be admitted into the surgical ward, another Ksh 20,000 had to be paid. The cycle of payment before treatment continued as though the life at stake was secondary to the hospital’s thirst for money.
But the negligence we encountered did not end there. That Sunday, the surgeon who was supposed to review the CT scan results and attend to the patient failed to show up. Instead, the surgeon only appeared on Monday, and without thorough examination, declared the patient fit for discharge. This hasty decision left us perplexed, given the patient’s still-weak state and the severity of the injuries. We pleaded for an open referral letter, expressing our concern that we might need to seek further treatment elsewhere. The hospital grudgingly complied but showed no sense of responsibility for the patient’s future care.
As fate would have it, our worst fears came true. Later that day, the patient began to experience difficulty in controlling her mouth. It was an alarming sign that all was not well. In desperation, we rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), only to be told that a neurosurgeon would not be available until Tuesday. With no time to waste, we headed to Uhai Neema Hospital for immediate attention. What we discovered next will forever haunt us.
Uhai Neema Hospital revealed that St. Francis had committed an unforgivable act of negligence. They had merely covered the deep head wound with a dressing without properly cleaning or stitching it. To our horror, sand and debris from the accident were still embedded in the wound. The staff at Uhai Neema immediately cleaned the wound, removed the dirt, and stitched it afresh. To think that our loved one had been sent home by St. Francis Hospital with an untreated wound, all while being charged exorbitant fees, is a shocking testament to the hospital’s gross negligence.
The dangers posed by such carelessness cannot be overstated. Failure to properly treat a head injury can lead to infections, permanent damage, or even death. St. Francis Community Hospital, by prioritizing payments over patient care and by discharging a critically injured patient without proper treatment, violated the very core of medical ethics. They put our loved one’s life in grave danger and added unnecessary trauma to an already horrific experience.
The law is clear about the duties of medical professionals in emergencies. According to the Health Act of Kenya (2017), every person has the right to emergency medical treatment, which includes prompt care in life-threatening situations regardless of the patient’s ability to pay upfront. St. Francis Hospital blatantly disregarded this law by forcing us to pay before administering basic first aid. Furthermore, their failure to properly treat the wound and ensure comprehensive follow-up care constitutes medical negligence, a breach of both legal and ethical responsibilities.
St. Francis Community Hospital has broken the trust of the public. They failed not just in their medical duties, but in their moral obligations to care for human lives. Their conduct reveals a disturbing corporate culture where profit supersedes the Hippocratic Oath and where the lives of patients are bartered for cash. Such a facility must be held accountable — they owe the patient and her family an apology, financial compensation, and an immediate review of their policies.
As it stands, St. Francis Community Hospital is not a place where anyone seeking proper medical attention should go. The hospital’s actions were reckless, life-threatening, and legally questionable. This type of negligence endangers not just individual patients, but the entire community that might one day walk through its doors in need of urgent care.
We demand that the hospital publicly acknowledges its failures. They must apologize for the negligence that jeopardized our loved one’s life, compensate for the financial and emotional trauma inflicted upon the family, and commit to making substantive changes in their operations. Without such steps, St. Francis Community Hospital will remain a ticking time bomb — an institution that poses more harm than healing.
To the public, we offer this story as a warning: never take your patient to St. Francis Community Hospital. Do not risk their life in the hands of a facility that has proven it cares more for your money than your well-being. This is not a hospital — it is a place of gross indifference and perilous incompetence. Choose safety. Choose life. Avoid St. Francis Community Hospital at all costs.
Read Also: SHA Rollout: A Step Toward Affordable Healthcare Or A Continuation Of Bureaucratic Failures?
About Soko Directory Team
Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory
- January 2024 (238)
- February 2024 (227)
- March 2024 (190)
- April 2024 (133)
- May 2024 (157)
- June 2024 (145)
- July 2024 (136)
- August 2024 (154)
- September 2024 (212)
- October 2024 (255)
- November 2024 (22)
- January 2023 (182)
- February 2023 (203)
- March 2023 (322)
- April 2023 (298)
- May 2023 (268)
- June 2023 (214)
- July 2023 (212)
- August 2023 (257)
- September 2023 (237)
- October 2023 (264)
- November 2023 (286)
- December 2023 (177)
- January 2022 (293)
- February 2022 (329)
- March 2022 (358)
- April 2022 (292)
- May 2022 (271)
- June 2022 (232)
- July 2022 (278)
- August 2022 (253)
- September 2022 (246)
- October 2022 (196)
- November 2022 (232)
- December 2022 (167)
- January 2021 (182)
- February 2021 (227)
- March 2021 (325)
- April 2021 (259)
- May 2021 (285)
- June 2021 (272)
- July 2021 (277)
- August 2021 (232)
- September 2021 (271)
- October 2021 (305)
- November 2021 (364)
- December 2021 (249)
- January 2020 (272)
- February 2020 (310)
- March 2020 (390)
- April 2020 (321)
- May 2020 (335)
- June 2020 (327)
- July 2020 (333)
- August 2020 (276)
- September 2020 (214)
- October 2020 (233)
- November 2020 (242)
- December 2020 (187)
- January 2019 (251)
- February 2019 (215)
- March 2019 (283)
- April 2019 (254)
- May 2019 (269)
- June 2019 (249)
- July 2019 (335)
- August 2019 (293)
- September 2019 (306)
- October 2019 (313)
- November 2019 (362)
- December 2019 (318)
- January 2018 (291)
- February 2018 (213)
- March 2018 (275)
- April 2018 (223)
- May 2018 (235)
- June 2018 (176)
- July 2018 (256)
- August 2018 (247)
- September 2018 (255)
- October 2018 (282)
- November 2018 (282)
- December 2018 (184)
- January 2017 (183)
- February 2017 (194)
- March 2017 (207)
- April 2017 (104)
- May 2017 (169)
- June 2017 (205)
- July 2017 (189)
- August 2017 (195)
- September 2017 (186)
- October 2017 (235)
- November 2017 (253)
- December 2017 (266)
- January 2016 (164)
- February 2016 (165)
- March 2016 (189)
- April 2016 (143)
- May 2016 (245)
- June 2016 (182)
- July 2016 (271)
- August 2016 (247)
- September 2016 (233)
- October 2016 (191)
- November 2016 (243)
- December 2016 (153)
- January 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (4)
- March 2015 (164)
- April 2015 (107)
- May 2015 (116)
- June 2015 (119)
- July 2015 (145)
- August 2015 (157)
- September 2015 (186)
- October 2015 (169)
- November 2015 (173)
- December 2015 (205)
- March 2014 (2)
- March 2013 (10)
- June 2013 (1)
- March 2012 (7)
- April 2012 (15)
- May 2012 (1)
- July 2012 (1)
- August 2012 (4)
- October 2012 (2)
- November 2012 (2)
- December 2012 (1)