Abia State declares new Hospital unfit for use
The Abia State Government has declared the newly constructed and inaugurated Abia Multi-Specialist Hospital in Aba unfit for human use. Abia State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing newsmen during an inspection of hospitals in Aba.
Okoronkwo said the building which showed structural defects has unfitted equipment, no proper ventilation and running water and requires structural assessment to ascertain its capability to function as a hospital. Okoronkwo said “The hospital is bad; the structure and the design approach were poorly done.
“The equipment is scattered all over the place we cannot ascertain if they are still working because there is no power supply.
“It is a challenge. The idea of coming here is to look at the place to see if it is ready for use but from my assessment, it will take a while.
Okoronkwo lamented the leaking and flooding of rooms in the hospital, mouldy walls, lack of provision for Air Conditioners or fans, and complicated access within the hospital she said was dangerous. She said that until she sees the contract papers that resulted in the poor job, she cannot determine if the government would sustain the contract or terminate it. She added that the government would meet with the contractors to know if their work meets the current government’s standard.
“If they meet our standard, we may consider how to incorporate that into what we intend to do if it does not meet our standard, of course, we will discard and develop another one”, she said.
She assured the people that the government has no intention to move the Aba general hospital from its place but would retain it to serve the community. She said Gov. Alex Otti has declared a state of emergency in the health sector. The commissioner said three hospitals from the three senatorial zones have been marked out for ”revitalisation” before his 100 days in office. She stressed that since the Aba general hospital “is not dependable” they will consider the Abayi cottage hospital as an option.
NAN/S.S
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