Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has issued a strong warning to hospitals across Kenya: stop admitting more patients than you can handle. Speaking before Parliament’s Health Committee on Tuesday, July 8, Duale made it clear that hospitals must stick to their bed capacity—and if they want to admit more patients, they must expand their space and resources first.
He warned that hospitals trying to cheat the system by over-admitting patients and then submitting fake claims to the Social Health Authority (SHA) will be punished. Such actions will now be treated as insurance fraud.
"You can’t put three people in one bed and expect SHA to pay for all of them," Duale said. "Even big hospitals like Kenyatta must buy more beds if they want to take in more patients."
He said this move is meant to restore dignity in hospitals, where currently some patients sleep on the floor or share beds with strangers who have different illnesses.
"This will not happen under my watch," he promised.
Duale also said that some hospitals force doctors to admit people who don’t really need treatment, just to increase claim amounts. He warned that anyone involved—whether doctors, hospitals, or even patients—will face legal action and shutdowns.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) recently took action too. It shut down 728 health facilities and downgraded 301 more across counties like Nairobi, Kisii, Mandera, Wajir, and Nyamira for failing to meet safety and licensing rules.
The goal of the crackdown, according to KMPDC, is to ensure only safe, ethical, and well-equipped health centers are allowed to treat Kenyans.
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