THE Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital has completed paying up debts amounting to more than Sh500 million which almost caused the hospital to collapse early this year. Records from the hospital indicate that it has increased monthly collections for cost sharing money from Sh10 million in March to about Sh70 million this month.

The hospital CEO John Kibosia, who has been at the institution for five months, said they have now embarked on buying modern equipment which missing from the institution. "We are left with only a few pending issues we have to clear after which the hospital will be on the modernisation track through installation of modern and computerised machinery in all departments," he said.

Part of the pending bills included payments for supplies of medical kits and food items to the hospital. Meanwhile long serving deputy director of the hospital in charge of clinical services Omar Ali has retired after serving the institution for more than 20 years. "We thank him for the service he has rendered to this hospital for the years he has been around," Dr Kibosia said. Dr Omar's position will be advertised soon to be competively filled up.

In the last one week, unsigned documents have been circulating at the hospital with claims that there is corruption at the facility in which millions of shillings have been lost especially at the time Dr Kibosia was out of the country last month. The documents link the corruption to top managers at the facility and the authors accuse Dr Kibosia of failing to act on those involved. Dr Kibosia confirmed having seen the documents but dismissed the claims as propaganda.

"We currently have external auditors in this hospital and they would have detected anything wrong. We wouldn't have recorded increased collections every month if money was being stolen," Kibosia said. He, however, said employees in the finance department have been cautioned to avoid cases of corruption which could cost them their jobs. "We have also computerised all systems and it will be difficult for anyone to tamper with money at the hospital," Kibosia said.