…No beds, medical equipment as staff quarters decay
By Jeff Agbodo, Abakaliki
ABAKALIKI — Patients and health workers have raised the alarm over the deplorable condition of the Umuebe/Amaovo Primary Health Centre in Amovu Community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. An investigation showed that the health centre was in a state of disrepair, with inadequate medical facilities, deteriorating staff quarters, lack of electricity and poor environmental sanitation threatening healthcare delivery at the facility.
Patients visiting the centre were seen sitting on benches due to a lack of adequate chairs and beds, while the staff quarters had reportedly become dilapidated and infested with rodents and reptiles. The facility was also surrounded by overgrown bushes, while erosion and indiscriminate dumping of refuse posed additional environmental and health risks. An indigene of the community, Mr Ekene Onwe, lamented that the health centre, which was the nearest medical facility for many residents, especially indigent pregnant women, had become a shadow of its former self. He said the deteriorating infrastructure, absence of basic medical equipment, lack of electricity and poor maintenance had crippled healthcare services and put patients at risk.
“The health centre has collapsed completely due to negligence at the local government level and lack of monitoring and supervision from the state Ministry of Health. “When this health centre was established by the government of Dr Sam Egwu, patients came from far and near to access healthcare services at the facility. Women visited the health centre for antenatal care and child delivery, but the reverse is now the case as the place is a ghost of itself. “I know that this health centre saved many women and helped reduce maternal mortality. Before now, old men and women received treatment here.
Some emergency cases were also handled here before patients were referred to the teaching hospital, which is no longer possible because of the decay in the facility,” Onwe said. He appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru and the state Ministry of Health to urgently intervene and rehabilitate the health centre.
“We are losing our pregnant women and other patients here due to inadequate medical equipment and lack of drugs,” he added. A patient’s relative at the facility, Mrs Ngozi Ogbadu, said the health workers were willing to work and remained at their duty posts but lacked the basic equipment needed to provide effective healthcare. She said the deteriorating staff quarters and poor working conditions had discouraged some patients from patronising the facility, forcing them to seek treatment elsewhere, including from unqualified practitioners. Ogbadu said the centre lacked essential medical equipment needed to provide quality healthcare, particularly for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children. A health worker, Mrs Chinyere Eze, said the facility had no hospital beds, patient chairs, delivery couches, examination equipment and other critical medical tools required for effective healthcare delivery. She also lamented the absence of electricity, saying health workers faced serious challenges attending to emergencies and conducting deliveries at night. The Officer-in-Charge of the health centre, Mrs Ogochukwu Uto, confirmed that the facility was operating under difficult conditions.
According to her, although the centre provides antenatal care, immunisation, child delivery and other primary healthcare services, health workers are often forced to improvise because the available equipment is outdated and grossly inadequate. She also decried the deteriorating environment, attributing the situation to severe erosion and indiscriminate dumping of refuse around the premises.
Uto warned that the environmental challenges posed serious risks to public health and the safety of patients and health workers. Healthcare experts have consistently described primary healthcare centres as the bedrock of Nigeria’s healthcare system, particularly in rural communities where they serve as the first point of contact for medical services. They warned that inadequate investment in infrastructure, equipment and personnel could undermine efforts to improve maternal and child healthcare. The health workers appealed to the Ebonyi State Government, Ohaukwu Local Government Council, development partners and public-spirited individuals to urgently rehabilitate the facility, renovate the staff quarters, provide modern medical equipment and restore electricity. They also called for urgent measures to control erosion and clear the refuse and overgrown vegetation around the health centre to create a safer environment for patients and health workers.
