Five weeks without nurses: Patients pay the price as county hospitals fall silent
A prolonged nurses' strike in Kenya has entered its fifth week, forcing the closure of hospital theaters and leaving patients without critical care. Families are struggling to find affordable alternatives as the dispute over collective bargaining agreements remains unresolved.
Why it matters
The strike highlights a severe public health crisis and the systemic failure of healthcare infrastructure to meet the needs of vulnerable populations.
A waiting bay at Murang'a County Referral Hospital in Murang'a town/ Alice Waithera For Cecilia Wandete, the nurses’ strike is no longer a labour dispute being discussed in union offices and county government boardrooms.
It is a desperate search for a hospital that can fix her son’s broken leg.
Omar Wandete fell from a building they were constructing in Tudor, Mombasa, on Monday and fractured his leg.
His mother rushed him to Tudor Clinic, where he received first aid before being referred to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Instead, she found herself looking for another hospital.
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