Patients at Rongo Sub-county Hospital, in Migori were frightened after finding out they shared a ward with a corpse.
It is believed a male patient who been admitted on Thursday evening died at midnight but the body was not taken to the morgue until 4pm Friday.
Peter Owino whose sick cousin's bed was besides the corpse, said the situation traumatised him.
“We were not at ease in this room where the person died. My cousin was visibly shaken and traumatized because the body was in the bed immediately next to his,” he said.
However Ruwa Mwatellah, the hospital's Medical Officer attributed the incident to lack of enough space at the Morgue and logistics of transporting bodies from the wards.
“We always release bodies to any mortuary when there are family members involved. The ministry is yet to create a room in the hospital where we can store the dead so as to prevent fear and trauma for those still being treated,'' he said.
He added that relatives of the deceased could not be identified so as to be notified before the body was transported to the mortuary.
“We always release bodies to any mortuary when there are family members involved. The ministry is yet to create a room in the hospital where we can store the dead so as to prevent fear and trauma for those still being treated,'' said Mwatellah.
He also said that there was only one Public Mortuary in the Sub-county, making the situation more difficult.