Ruai Family Hospital (RFH) has had its operational license restored by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) just hours after it was revoked.
The order to close the facility had also been vacated, according to KMPDC CEO Daniel Yumbya, who spoke following a closed-door discussion with the hospital’s administration on Wednesday.
On Friday, August 27, 2021, RFH nurse Ruth Matitika seized 144 doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and handed them to one Caroline Kinyanjui, according to the council’s Ethics and Disciplinary committee.
The nurse was not sanctioned by the hospital or its leadership, according to RFH.
“Management has since called the staff for her statement. She confirms that she was not under any direct authority to take part in the exercise but did so on her own volition,”
“A tally of our Vaccine allocation from Dandora Depot confirms that 160 doses of what was meant for the hospital for public vaccination was used in the exercise… Whatever our staff do on their free time outside work remains governed by the laws of the land. On this particular issue, we consider this a gross misconduct as it involved misappropriation and misuse of what was by extension hospital property.”
KMPDC sought a 14-day audit of the vaccines distributed to the public and reported the case to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate Ruth Mutitika and Caroline Kinyanjui’s behavior.
The council revoked RFH’s operating license on Tuesday evening, citing an alleged infringement of COVID-19 vaccination laws.
The hospital, which had been recognized as a COVID-19 immunization center, was allegedly transferring vaccinations to other unapproved locations, according to the KMPDC.
