Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County.
The Bomet County government has, in response to public outrage over the death of a three-year-old girl over alleged negligence, made significant administrative changes at Longisa County Hospital.
Ruth Chepngeno, who had been stung by bees, died on arrival at Tenwek Hospital where she had been rushed after reportedly receiving no medical attention for over five hours at Longisa Hospital.
She was among four children stung by bees at Koitabai village in Kembu ward, Bomet East constituency. Two of the children were treated and discharged while another one – four-year-old Collins Kibet is still undergoing treatment at Tenwek Hospital.
In the changes revealed on Tuesday, Dr Ronald Kibet has been appointed as the hospital’s Medical Superintendent replacing Dr Andrew Cheruiyot who has been moved to be in charge of the newly created position of Special Clinics.
Dr Bernard Sowek, a former Chief Officer for Health who served as the Monitoring and Evaluation focal person in the department, replaces Dr Kibet as the County Director for Health.
Mr Julius Magut has been appointed in charge of Clinical Officers, replacing Mr Paul Sigey who takes over as the Clinical Officers’ Internship Coordinator/OPD.
Mr Geoffrey Koskei has been moved to be the IPC Coordinator with Mr Alfred Bett elevated to the position of Nursing Officer in charge, while Mr Stephen Cheruiiyot takes charge of expanded roles as In Charge of Bomet Health Centre and CASCO.
Announcing the changes, County Health Executive Dr Joseph Sitonik and Health Chef Officer Felix Langat said the administrative shake-up was necessary to restore public confidence and improve service delivery.
The Bomet County Assembly's Health Committee chaired by Longisa MCA Stephen Changmorik and his Sigor counterpart Peter Mutai on Tuesday confirmed lapses in Ruth’s transfer to Tenwek, a private hospital, prompting county-wide administrative reforms within the Health Department.
Seven Bomet legislators led by Senator Hillary Sigei are also demanding accountability from medics allegedly implicated in the incident and pressing for a complete overhaul of Longisa's health administration.
“We are calling on the county government to take full responsibility for the negligence and loss of an innocent soul. This isn’t just a matter of drug shortages, a child’s life was lost,” said Senator Sigei.
Ruth was among four children stung by bees last Saturday.
Two of the children were treated and discharged, while four-year-old Collins Kibet remains hospitalized at Tenwek. Ruth’s relatives who were outraged by the delay chose to transfer her to Tenwek where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
According to the committee, preliminary findings show that while Longisa medics initially attended to the children, gaps emerged during the transfer process to Tenwek Hospital for specialized care.
They said that they had interviewed patients who were in the emergency ward at the time, their relatives, and medics and watched CCTV footage of the entire period the patients were at the hospital.
“We interviewed emergency ward patients, the relatives, and medical staff and reviewed CCTV footage to determine what went wrong,” said Leonard Rotich, Deputy Speaker of the Bomet County Assembly and health committee member.
“In our investigations, we have realised there were several gaps that led to the child losing her life in the manner that happened. It is a very unfortunate incident and we have made a raft of recommendations to improve services at the hospital” Mr Rotich said.
Mr Sigei criticised Governor Hillary Barchok’s silence on the issue describing it as indicative of a failing health system.
“This silence amidst a tragedy is telling of the insensitivity towards a bereaved family and the larger community,” Mr Sigei remarked.
Konoin MP Brighton Yegon supported the call for accountability arguing that the county’s leadership must act to rectify systemic failings.
“With Bomet County receiving Sh 8 billion annually from the National Treasury, the lack of basic development is troubling,” said Mr Yegon.
