Murang’a County has moved to court seeking urgent orders to restore access to its digital health system and protect patient records following a disruption that has affected operations at public health facilities.
The county is seeking orders against the Ministry of Health and the Digital Health Agency after losing access to the system used to manage patients’ medical records and other hospital services.
The dispute has raised concerns over access to patients’ medical histories and the processing of claims under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Governor Irungu Kang’ata has accused the national government of shutting down the system before the county completed its transition to a replacement platform.
He said the disruption had affected health facilities, leaving some unable to retrieve patients’ records and process SHA claims.
The system has been used in Murang’a since 2023 to manage electronic medical records, prescriptions, laboratory results and hospital billing.
However, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has denied that the Ministry of Health shut down the platform.
In a statement issued on Thursday, October 15, Duale said the ministry neither owned nor controlled the system and did not have access to its source code.
He also said the Digital Health Agency had not rejected the system for certification, explaining that neither the county government nor its developers had applied for approval.
The ministry maintained that SHA beneficiaries in Murang’a would continue accessing healthcare through established national systems.
Kang’ata, however, has questioned the circumstances surrounding the disruption, warning that the transition could affect service delivery and increase operational costs for the county.
The county has been preparing to move its facilities to a replacement digital health platform as the government pushes for the adoption of certified systems.
The court case now places the dispute between the county and national government before the judiciary, with access to patient records and continuity of healthcare among the key concerns.
