The renal unit at the King Fahad Hospital in Lamu county has been closed indefinitely due to persistent water shortages.
The Level 5 hospital is the largest and only referral hospital in the county.
At the time of closure, the hospital had 15 active dialysis patients who have now been rendered helpless due to the situation.
The closure was confirmed by Lamu Health executive Anne Gathoni who said dialysis services at the hospital have been halted since Thursday last week.
Gathoni said all the 15 patients were given referral forms to enable them seek medication elsewhere as the county looks into resolving the problem.
An internal memo at the hospital seen by the Star said all the machines at the renal unit were functioning well and that the challenge was with the membrane that filters water to supply them.
“Due to ongoing drought, our water conductivity is very high. Engineers from Nairobi came a month ago and fixed a new membrane but today we are experiencing the same problem," the memo said.
"Our local engineers have been working hard to rectify the issue but could not resolve it. We have, however, contacted experts from Nairobi and we expect them to come as soon as possible.”
The 15 dialysis patients have not attended a single session at the facility for the last week, a situation that puts their lives in danger.
Dialysis patient, Hussein Said, 50, relocated from his Mkunumbi home in Lamu West on the mainland to Lamu Island in 2019 to enable him attend dialysis sessions at the hospital twice a week.
He was referred to Jocham Hospital, a private facility in Mombasa county, to enable him continue with the treatment.
“This means I have to relocate again to Mombasa and that needs money which I don’t have,” he said.
Wasama Nuno,74, of Mokowe in Lamu West went for 12 days without a single dialysis session which he normally attends twice a week.
He was referred to the Premier Hospital in Mombasa, but said he has no money to travel to the hospital.
“I need to be there before Monday otherwise I might not do well considering it has been 12 days without dialysis,” Nuno said.
Mohamed Ali,63, from Kashmir village in Lamu Island said King Fahad Hospital was easy for him to access since he has many other health conditions that make walking for long distances hard.
He was referred to the Alliance Hospital in Mombasa, but said he cannot afford the transport and accommodation costs.
“I do two dialysis sessions every week. It’s been a whole week without any and I am worried," Ali said.
"I am still trying to make arrangements for transport and accommodation but I know it's going to be impossible.”
A single dialysis session at the facility costs Sh9,500 which translates to Sh19,000 for two sessions each week.
Any renal unit effectively runs on adequate and consistent supply of quality water.
Since most of the water in Lamu Island is saline, the county set up a mini desalination plant in 2018 that converts the saline water into quality water for use by the renal facility.
The plant has however been marred with numerous breakdowns and malfunctions that have resulted in the closure of the unit.
The renal unit, which was officially commissioned in 2018, was part of the Sh1.1 billion equipment procured by the national government under the Managed Equipment Services programme.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
