Patients shun general hospital over dilapidated structures
Idah General Hospital remains the shadow of itself at the moment. The hospital is sick and in need of urgent medical attention. Worse still, patients in the community now travel far or unapproved private hospital to seek medical attention due to dilapidated structures in Idah general hospital.
Okanyi Enemali, the indefatigable Igala Community Reporter stated this in an interview with our journalists on thursday at Idah.
He appealed to the state government to address the situation in order to reduce the hardship of the people in the community.
According to him the SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL (SDGS) NO3 TALKS OF GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THE PEOPLE. But Idah Zonal General Hospital is a complete reverse of the SDGS. It is indeed an eyesore from the gate or environment of the hospital is so unkept, most of the wards are abandoned. They are left to be occupied by lizards and goats.
“One question you will immediately ask yourself is, where did we get it wrong?, who manages the hospital?, Is the government no longer available to take up her responsibilities...so many questions you will want to ask”. Okanyi queried
“The fence is broken down and now turned to shops, where is the community leadership”.
“I think if we must make a remarkable change many heads must roll.”
“Health is wealth, how can we be healthy when our health facilities are so dilapidated. The structures and environment of the general hospital is forcing most patients to travel out or visit quacks to seek for medical attention.
“The structure is dilapidated and the environment is so bushy that patients prefer to travel to Lokoja the state headquarters or Abuja FCT for medical attention."
“The members of staff no longer discharged their duties effectively as patients are not visiting the hospital because of the dilapidated nature of the facility,’’ he said.
However, Idah local council during Henry Amodu tenure had a face lift by using Catapillar(grader) to grade erosion prone areas compared to the previous administration lackadaisical attitude to address portholes in the town
He also appealed to the state government to rehabilitate roads that link Idah to other communities like Ogbogbo Odolu, Idah route in order to boost economic activities of the people.
Inah Stephen,Lokoja