Former founder of St Mary’s Mission Hospital opens new health facility
– After a seven-year battle for control of the KSh 3 billion St Mary’s Mission Hospital, Father William Fryda lost it to the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi
– Father Fryda and a group of allied staff were kicked out of the facility and also had to leave his home
– He appealed and sought temporary injunction orders barring takeover efforts, but it did not bear fruit
– Fryda picked up the crumbled pieces to set up another hospital and named it St. Joseph Mission Hospital.
In September 2017, Judge Sila Munyao, then a judge of the Environment and Land Court in Nakuru, issued a judgment that ended a seven-year standoff over the control of KSh 3 billion from the hospital. of St Mary’s mission.
An American priest, Father William Charles Fryda and a group of nuns, the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi had long fought in court for the property of Gilgil, Nakuru and Lang’ata.
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Source: UGC
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In the judgment, Munyao ruled in favor of the sisters. Father Fryda and a group of employees who are allied with him were expelled from the establishment and a new management was put in place.
He also had to leave his home in Gilgil Hospital.
Fryda, an American citizen whose father was a cowboy and mother a teacher, arrived in Kenya in 1991 with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
It was here that the vicious battle for control of two hospitals was conceived and fought, putting it at daggers drawn with the Catholic Church.
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For months after the nuns took control of St Mary, Fryda struggled and had to find ways to survive.
He appealed to the Court of Appeal and sought temporary injunction orders barring unsuccessful recovery efforts.
Even as he awaits the outcome of the appeal, the priest appears to have picked up the crumbled pieces to create another hospital right next to St Mary’s Mission Hospital.
Deciding not to remove the competition from the nuns, he appointed the hospital establishment of Mission Saint-Joseph.
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Source: UGC
The new facility established in October 2019 is a replica of St Mary’s Mission Hospital and the hive of activities taking place there is what keeps Fryda going.
He is happy now that even after the loss he has finally found a home.
Dressed in a dust coat with a stethoscope slung over his shoulder, he moves from neighborhood to neighborhood while stopping to speak to some of his staffs.
He also engages his patients in Swahili.
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Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, he said that even after the loss of the hospital to the nuns, his dream of having a facility serving the less fortunate continued to live on.
Immediately he had to think about how he would continue to serve the people.
“The dream of serving the poor never died, the skills stuck with me even after the loss. I just had to figure out how to start a new installation, ”Fryda said.
The priest converted a three-story building that was once St Mary’s Nursing School into a hospital, then acquired hospital equipment.
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Source: UGC
Fryda said a group of friends from Kenya and Europe provided her with funds after learning of her woes.
He also said that someone donated a plot of land to him in Njoro to establish another settlement.
Like-minded medical professionals who worked with him at St Mary’s have moved to work with him at the new facility.
St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital has an inpatient ward with a capacity of 70 beds, an operating theater and an x-ray room and, although still new, it serves hundreds of patients.
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Services are up to standard and economical, with minor surgery costing KSh 5,000 while major surgery costs KSh 10,000.
People admitted to hospital pay a bed fee of KSh 500, a caesarean delivery costs KSh 7,500, and childbirth costs KSh 4,000.
The files consulted by TUKO.co.ke show that more than 110 outpatients have been treated since the opening of its doors to the public.
On average, the establishment treats 40 hospitalized patients per day.
When asked how he got along with Njue after the legal battle, Fryda replied that he had no problem with him.
Article by Ben Kerich, correspondent for TUKO.co.ke.
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Source: Tuko
