158 Health Facilities Shut Down

At least 158 health facilities have been closed following a comprehensive inspection exercise by several health regulatory bodies and county governments.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) announced the move on Thursday, August 28, confirming that the closures were part of an exercise to weed out non-compliant facilities.
Amajority of the closed facilities were found to be either unregistered or unlicensed, operating below required standards, or employing practitioners who were either unregistered or unlicensed.
“The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), in collaboration with other health regulatory bodies and county governments, has intensified its nationwide inspection of health facilities in a move to enforce the Inspections and Licensing Rules, 2022, aimed at enhancing patient safety, deterring entry of unethical providers or practices, and ensuring quality healthcare delivery,” the council said in a statement.
According to the KMPDC, some of the flagged facilities lacked critical infrastructure such as pharmacies, maternity wings, and laboratories, while others faced sanitation challenges, including inadequate waste disposal, thereby posing a direct risk to the health of patients.
The closures were carried out in line with the Inspections and Licensing Rules, 2022, developed under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (CAP 253).
The inspection covered 288 facilities in total. Besides the suspension of 158 facilities, 28 others were downgraded, while 105 were maintained at their current level.
Inspection rules provide a structured framework for regulating health facilities, managing regular inspections and annual licence renewals, with non-compliant facilities running the risk of having their licences withdrawn or being fully closed.
To guide the public, the KMPDC announced plans to publish the names of all flagged health facilities to encourage patients to seek medical help from compliant hospitals.
“This information on closed health facilities has been shared with relevant authorities, including the National Government Administration Office, county governments, the Social Health Authority, Digital Health Authority, and health regulatory bodies to ensure continued compliance,” the statement went on.
The closure of the health facilities comes at a time when the health sector in the country is under intense scrutiny, particularly over the misuse of billions of shillings allocated to the Social Health Authority (SHA), allegedly channelled to non-existent health facilities and hospitals with conflicting ownership.
On Monday, August 25, the Ministry of Health responded to growing public complaints and social media campaigns over the misuse of funds, with Health CS Aden Duale noting that fraudulent practices in the healthcare sector are a growing global challenge, accounting for up to 15 per cent of expenditures.
In Kenya, the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) estimates that 30 per cent of medical payouts are linked to fraudulent claims.
In June, SHA suspended 40 facilities following forensic audits and announcedplans to degazette an additional 45 flagged for fraudulent activities.