Seven fake doctors have been found busy treating patients and even prescribing all manner of medicines, in three counties.
Government inspectors also found 37 health facilities in Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet and Uasin Gishu counties actively serving patients yet they were not even registered.
Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) CEO Daniel Yumbya said those 'hospitals' have been closed immediately and the quacks arrested.
“At least 270 health facilities were inspected in the exercise two weeks ago,” he said. “The number of quacks had significantly reduced in the last five years.”
The board made the announcement a week after arresting a highly-paid quack at Kapsabet County Hospital.
"Dr" Ronald Kiprotich Melly, who does not hold any known qualification in medicine or remotely related field, was earning Sh150,000 every month and even carried out cesarean sections.
Yumbya said as of November 23, 2016, there were 10,638 registered medical doctors in Kenya. Out of these, 6,359 are active or retained.
In addition, there are 1,227 registered dentists in Kenya but only 651 are active or retained. The number of registered specialists is 2,630 and 2,416 are active or retained.
“The number of foreign medical doctors on temporary license is 2,519 and only 1,445 are currently active. The number of foreign dentists on temporary license is 113 and only 44 remain active,” he said.
The inspection came as a growing number of private health facilities hire medics with questionable academic papers to cash in on payouts from the National Health Insurance Fund.
The Star runs Kenya's first and only mobile and online platform that allows the public to verify the credibility of their doctors and health facilities.
Users require no prior registration and should simply send the name of the doctor to 22495 or the online portal ,
to get a response whether they are registered with the Board.
Anyone can also type the name of a medical facility in Kenya to verify if it is registered with NHIF.
The service also allows the public to search for health specialists nearest to them.
Yumbya added that they have only licensed nine medical schools in Kenya and two dental schools to train doctors.
Across East Africa, there are 29 medical schools and seven dental schools that are registered and recognised by the board.
“The number of medical internship training centers in Kenya is 75 while dental internship training centers are 10. Specialist recognition training centers are only two and post graduate teaching hospitals are only four,” Yumbya said.
He said the board would also launch mobile solution dubbed iCare, next year to enable users verify status of a medical facility.
However, it will only be available on android platform. “The move is expected to rein in on quacks and any illegal medical facilities in order to ensure that Kenyans right to health is safeguarded,” he said.