At least 53 patients died in Taita Taveta County over the 22 days nurses were on strike.
Health services executive Daniel Mwakisha said the number of deaths is as at Friday last week.
"We have collected this data from Moi County Referral Hospital, Wesu Hospital and Taveta Hospital morgues. By Friday, 53 bodies had been brought for preservation in the mortuaries.”
Mwakisha was addressing journalists in Wundanyi during the signing of return to work agreement with the Kenya Union of Nurses Taita Taveta branch officials.
Nurses in the county are expected to resume work immediately after their strike was called off.
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Mwakisha said
the number of fatalities may be higher since some bodies were buried without been taken to the morgue.
He said the deaths could directly be attributed to the nurses strike that paralyzed health services in the county.
Moi County Referral Hospital is the sole referral facility in the county.
It serves the neighboring counties of Kwale, Kajiado and Makueni.
It is also the most accessible facility for road accident victims on the busy Mombasa- Nairobi highway and the Voi-Holili road.
The executive disclosed that the government will hire more nurses to address understaffing in the county.
“The County Public Service Board had already interviewed nurses for promotion and new posts. We expect to increase the number for better service delivery," Mwakisha said.
He said they also agreed to enhance capacity of health facilities to ensure efficient services delivery.
Boniface Mrashui, the county Nurses' Union secretary said, nurses' withheld January salary will be paid by Thursday.
He said no one will be victimised for participating in the strike.