A senior county government official has admitted that Nakuru Level Five Hospital is struggling to offer services due to a dire shortage of staff.

In a concerning admission, Nakuru County Executive Committee Member for Health Roselyne Mungai, confirmed that despite serving thousands of Kenyans, the facility suffers from a significant shortage of staff.

“The maternity wing is severely overwhelmed. Looking at the number of deliveries happening here compared to the number of nurses that we have, it is severely suboptimal,” said Mungai.

The recent death of Elizabeth Wairimu hours after giving birth has exposed the facility’s shortfalls. The development comes as Senator Tabitha Karanja Keroche has petitioned the Senate to conduct a full audit of the Nakuru Level V following the rise in cases of deaths among mothers and newborn babies.

The senator wants the Senate committee on health to investigate the recent death of 26-year-old Elizabeth Wairimu, who passed on last week, hours after giving birth. “The maternity wing is severely overwhelmed. Looking at the number of deliveries happening here compared to the number of nurses that we have, it is severely suboptimal,” said Mungai.

The challenges at the hospital, which serves Nakuru County and the surrounding counties, came in the wake of a controversy surrounding the prolonged absence of Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika from office. Kihika has been away in the US, where she gave birth to twins.

The crisis at the Nakuru Level V Hospital, especially the Margaret Kenyatta Mother and Baby Maternity Wing, has brought into focus the county executive’s commitment to managing healthcare.

According to hospital records, Wairimu was admitted on April 18, 2025, at 11am with a post-dated pregnancy and was in the early stages of labour. She was to undergo a caesarean section immediately but was taken back to the ward from the theatre when it was realised the operating room was packed with other emergencies.

Wairimu’s operation was done the next day from 10am to 11:30am, delivering a 3.2kg boy, but the mother developed breathing complications that required her to be put under ICU. But the hospital’s ICU unit was equally overwhelmed, and she was placed under a ventilator within the theatre awaiting the next available ICU bed. “A patient was discharged from the ICU at around 1pm and the bed had to be sterilised. At 3pm, she was transferred to the ICU but went into cardiac arrest. She passed away at 5:41pm,” hospital medical superintendent Dr James Waweru, said.

Wairimu’s death sparked public outrage with the family accusing the hospital of negligence, saying they should have instead referred her to another facility. “I have lost my daughter Wairimu. I will bury her. But let this be the last mother to die here. Let her death open the doors to solutions on challenges facing this hospital,” said Susan Wanjiku, mother to the late Wairimu.

She said while in the waiting area within the maternity, she witnessed heart-breaking scenes which collaborate with the county’s admission that the facility is understaffed.

“As I was watching on my daughter, two women gave birth unattended. Another mother and I assisted them as the staff were attending to others. Is this how a hospital of this stature handles patients bringing life on earth?” Wanjiku posed.

In 2022, Governor Kihika heavily campaigned on promise to enhance service delivery in Nakuru county’s health sector.