Two months after suspected hoodlums stormed the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, the hospital has remained shut.
However, doctors at the hospital have called on the hospital’s management and the federal government to expedite actions to reopen the hospital.
While the hospital remains shut, it has taken a toll on the health workers and patients who need specialised care.
The PUNCH had reported that suspected hoodlums stormed FMC, Lokoja, in the early hours of Wednesday-July 1, destroying the administrative block and carted away computers and files allegedly relating to COVID-19.
Sources at the hospital told our correspondent that the protesters numbering about 50 stormed the premises with placards and dangerous weapons, attacking and destroying valuables.
The timely intervention of men of the State Police Command, however, prevented more damages as the protesters went wild at a point before the intervention of the police.
The state government, in a swift reaction, said that preliminary findings revealed that the violence ensued when relations of patients in the medical facility protested against the failure of the management of the hospital to attend to them.
The statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, indicated that many people in the Emergency Ward were left unattended to, while a woman gave birth to a baby at the gate of the hospital, which generated a lot of public tension in the state.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors, FMC Lokoja, Dr. Nnanna Agwu urged the hospital’s management and the federal government to expedite the intervention move to ensure the hospital reopen soon.
According to Agwu, shutting the hospital for two months has taken a toll on the health workers and the patients.
“The hospital has been shut for two months now because of the attack on the hospital but we hope that the hospital will reopen soon and we will resume work.
“People are actually suffering and that is the truth because the hospital has been closed for two months. The hope the patients have is to seek alternative healthcare until the authorities do what is needed for the hospital to reopen.
“FMC is the biggest tertiary hospital in this state so those who need specialised care will have difficulty accessing the care. Everybody is affected, even the health workers,” he said.
Continuing, the ARD president said “It’s affecting our training and a lot of things. We have House Officers who are undergoing training, so it’s affecting them, and the doctors who are undergoing training can’t complete their posting.
“For the patients, accessing care is a problem to them too especially specialist care because you cannot compare the level of manpower and the equipment that we have at FMC with what you can get in any other hospital.”
Agwu called on the hospital management and the federal government to expedite discussions on the reopening of the hospital.
“From what we know, the hospital management, the board and the Federal Ministry of Health are interacting, trying to find a lasting solution because for hoodlums to invade the hospital and destroy things is not a good one. So, they are trying to a lasting solution that will forestall such from happening again but we want the discussion to be concluded soon.
“This is affecting everybody and we are just praying that the people who are looking into it should be fast with the intervention so that the hospital can reopen and we can resume as soon as possible. We are not happy staying at home; it’s not good.
“The authorities are discussing among themselves but we expect the discussion to be expedited so that we can resume and patients will have access to the care they need,” Agwu said.