* We stay in water to treat patients – Nurses
By Ubong Sampson – Uyo
Barely three years after the Udom Emmanuel administration commissioned a renovated Methodist General Hospital in Ituk Mbang, Uruan local government area amidst fanfare, the facility has become a nightmare and tragedy to both patients and staff.
In a video shared with our correspondent, a female nurse of the ward was heard crying out to authorities for help, as the heavy and consistent rains had flooded the facility and the water, running above the level of the female ward of the hospital.
The video captured a woman said to be a relative of one of the patients on admission, trying to sweep out the water which the voice in the video said, had soaked the bags and other properties of patients.
Hearing the sound of another possible heavy rainfall, she feared the possibility that the whole ward would be turning into a river with the coming rain.
When our correspondent visited the facility, the nurses on duty refused speaking with him, apparently out of fear of being queried or even penalised by the authority.
However luckily, on a second visit, a nurse who gave her name simply as Nkoyo, confirmed the development, while leading him to the ward. Though the water in the ward was, according to the nurse, swept out, traces of it were still seen on the walls and other spots.
Nkoyo said patients and the female nurses have been suffering the fate almost all through the rainy season.
“This has been going on since after the renovation. Sometimes during heavy rainfall, we work and nurse patients in water.
“Sometimes, the rain falls 5 to 6 days in a week, and for every day, what you (referring to our correspondent) saw in the video is exactly what happens. I’ve been on night shift several times and had to stay awake all night trying to sweep out water from the ward,” Nkoyo revealed.
She also said one of the recent cases had some patients fade up, and crying to leave the facility. She said the relatives of one of the patients in the ward were as of that moment, making plans to move their patient out of the facility.
Another nurse identified as Affiong, described the situation as a terrible one.
When asked about the position of the authorities on the issue, Affiong said they had made series of complaints to the hospital authority and government without any effort to fix the mess.
According to her, aside discouraging their commitment to work, there was no way patients would respond to treatment in such an environment.
When contacted on phone by our correspondent, the Commissioner for Health in the State, Prof. Augustine Umoh, said government was aware of the situation.
“These are rainy times and it is unfortunate that the heavy rain caused flood that ran into the ward. Government has employed the services of an engineering firm that will get to work soonest to arrest the situation”, Umoh added.
