By Reporter
A family is in despair after a relative they admitted at Kisumu County Hospital four days ago allegedly walked out of the facility on Friday night, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Pastor David Otieno said his younger brother, Robert Ouko Otieno, aged 45, allegedly sneaked out of the facility past midnight, and his whereabouts are unknown, raising concern over his safety.
“I do not know how my brother was allowed to pass through the gate. We appeal to anyone who has seen him to report to us or to the nearest police station,” he said.
“My brother Robert Ouko Otieno, aged 45, sneaked from Kisumu General Hospital at midnight. He was wearing a black jacket, and we are worried about his safety. He was on medication, and we do not know what could have become of him,” he said.
Kisumu County Director of Medical Services, Dr Don Sunday Ogola, said it was not the responsibility of the institution to take care of patients who want to escape from the facility.
“If someone wants to escape from the facility, that is not the work of the doctor. A hospital is not a cell where you expect doctors to sit around and look after patients.
There is a security guard at the gate who should be in charge of that,” he said.
He said the security firm should be surcharged for allowing the patient to escape without paying the hospital bill.
“We will surcharge the security firm for making us lose revenue. We have two parties with concerns: the hospital for losing revenue and the family for the missing kin. But again, how sure are you the patient escaped at midnight? We will review the CCTV footage,” he said.
Sources revealed that security firms that had been engaged by the County Government were either on a go-slow or had pulled out their guards for lack of payment.
“Most of the county facilities are presently guarded by the county security enforcement or the police. This is a wake-up call,” revealed our sources.
