Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret will waive unpaid bills amounting to Sh1 billion.
Most of these bills have been pending for years, some dating back to the time the hospital was elevated to a referral facility in 1998.
Chief executive officer Wilson Aruasa said the hospital's board met last month and recommended the waiving of accrued bills.
He said the government should allocate the hospital more funds to cover for the waiver, saying its operations were frustrated by unsettled bills.
"We have written to senators urging them to support this plan and help the hospital get more funding to cover the financial hole left by the waiver. The board met and recommended a waiver for patients described as 'can't pay, won't pay'. We presented the recommendation to the Senate committee on Health because we need their support," he said Wednesday.
NHIF COVER
Dr Aruasa first revealed the plan last week when he appeared before the Senate committee.
He attributed the accumulation of medical bills to uptake of National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) cover.
Under the fund, members benefit from part payments as per the premiums paid.
They are expected to top up the cost if their bills exceed the fund's limit.
"That is why we requested the Senate to speed up implementation of universal health care in Kenya," said Dr Aruasa Wednesday.
50 PERCENT WAIVER
Previously, the hospital had announced a 50 percent waiver on an annual basis for medical bills over the past three years in a bid to encourage patients to pay up.
Dr Aruasa said construction of a 2,000-bed multi-specialty facility at Kiplombe, on the outskirts of Eldoret, to handle secondary and tertiary cases was on course.
The ground-breaking ceremony is expected by December, he said.
Once ready, MTRH will move to the new facility, estimated to cost close to Sh30 billion. Its present structures will be handed over to Uasin Gishu county government to run it as a Level 5 hospital.
The hospital has been battling congestion as it handles a high number of patients, some with primary health needs.
It handles an estimated 1,500 patients against its current bed capacity of 900, forcing some patients to share beds in the general wards.
