Sorry state of Kachia general hospital

The General Hospital in Kachia Local Government, Kaduna State is a strategic medical center for providing healthcare services to patients in Kachia town and other places.
This is mainly because of the strategic position of Kachia in the state as well as its location which is in between most major towns in Southern Kaduna and  Kaduna metropolis.
However, our reporter observed during his recent visit there that the hospital is not conducive for medical purposes. The buildings are dilapidated and some have collapsed. The doors and window glasses of the wards are mostly  broken and the wall paints have badly faded. There are also bushes all over the premises.
The major problem in the hospital includes lack of sufficient nurses, absence of oxygen, and an accident and emergency unit. The hospital has poor sanitary facilities with inadequate toilets, and lack of running water to flush the few toilets. The hospital also suffers from epileptic power supply.
 ”The hospital has poor facilities in all ramifications. The physical outlook and buildings, to start with, need refurbishing, painting and general facelift to make it conducive for patients. There is no vacuum extractor used for delivery and there are no enough beds. Even most of the beds have no mattresses until recently when mattresses were brought. Still, about 20 percent of the beds still lack mattresses. The hospital also needs man power, especially nurses. For now, only one nurse, in each shift, takes care of the male ward, pediatric ward and the Out Patient Department (OPD),” a source told the reporter.
The source explained that only one nurse takes care of the female ward, labour room and maternity. According to the source, for a general hospital or any big hospital for that matter, several nurses are supposed to be attached to each ward. But only one nurse mans three wards at the hospital, adding that most times the patients are always quarreling with the nurses because they feel that they don’t give them the required attention, but the truth is that the nurses are overwhelmed by the weight of work.
“There are not enough toilets to cover the patients and their relatives. Even the female toilet has collapsed and the management is trying to erect a temporary structure. The power supply is very epileptic,” the source added.
Another source lamented that the hospital from time immemorial has not had  oxygen provided nor an accident and emergency unit.
”As you know, Kachia is half way between Kaduna metropolis and Kafanchan, and the hospital is situated along the highway. Most times, accident victims are brought to the hospital, but because there is no accident and emergency unit, the hospital is unable to carter for their immediate needs and keep them alive before referring them to Kaduna or Kafanchan.
The reporter’s findings also reveal that water usually enters the wards, whenever it rains. They use woods to cover the openings all the time to prevent rain from coming in and it is not always successful. While during harmattan, cold enters the wards uncontrollably and the patients suffer from cold.
A mother of one of the patients, Victoria Anthony confirmed the lack of nurses in the hospital. She however said doctors at the hospital tried their best in treating  her son who had an accident despite the inadequate facilities they have to work with.
She narrated that one of the patients in a ward almost slapped a nurse because she didn’t come to attend to him on time as he was going through pains.
 Mrs. Anthony said the fault was not from the nurse because almost everyone was calling her at the same time and she didn’t know who to actually attend to.
She called on the government to boost the manpower of the hospital as well as renovate it. In addition to procuring contemporary medical facilities that can effectively meet the health needs of the people.
When contacted, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Alexander Ezema, confirmed the poor state of the hospital facilities, saying that it has been so for a long while now but that the present administration in the state is committed to refurbishing the hospital.
He said the state Ministry of Health is working hard to fix the problem and that he went through all the departments to evaluate the problems and thereafter wrote a memo to the commissioner of health who has promised prompt action. He said he also copied the local government chairman in the letter.
On when the poor facilities will be fixed, the Medical Director said that is beyond him as everything is now with the government which has the final say.
When contacted, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Professor Jonathan Andrew Nok, said the administration of Governor Nasir El-Rufai upon assumption of office has made commitments to rehabilitating all the 23 General Hospitals in the 23 local government areas of the state which has been hitherto abandoned by the past administrations.
He said this will be in addition to the 255 primary health care centers that will be refurbished to new ones and equipped with modern facilities.