Ebonyi health centre patients, workers lament deplorable condition

Patients and health workers at the Umuebe/Amaovo Primary Health Centre in Amovu Community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have raised the alarm over the deplorable condition of the facility.

An investigation showed that the health centre was in a state of disrepair, with inadequate medical equipment, deteriorating staff quarters, lack of electricity and poor environmental sanitation threatening healthcare delivery.

Patients visiting the facility were seen sitting on benches due to inadequate chairs and beds, while the staff quarters had reportedly become dilapidated and infested with rodents and reptiles.

The health centre was also surrounded by overgrown bushes, while erosion and indiscriminate dumping of refuse posed additional environmental and health risks.

An indigene of the community, Ekene Onwe, said the health centre, which serves as the nearest medical facility for many residents, particularly indigent pregnant women, had become a shadow of its former self.

Onwe said the deteriorating infrastructure, lack of basic medical equipment, absence of electricity and poor maintenance had crippled healthcare services and exposed patients to risks.

He said: “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.”

He recalled that the facility was once a major healthcare destination for residents after it was established by the government of Dr Sam Egwu.

Onwe said: “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.”

He appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru and the state Ministry of Health to urgently intervene and rehabilitate the facility.

“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, Ngozi Ogbadu, said the health workers remained committed to their duties but lacked the basic equipment required to provide effective healthcare.

Ogbadu said the deteriorating staff quarters and poor working conditions had discouraged some patients from using the facility, forcing them to seek treatment elsewhere, including from unqualified practitioners.

She also said the centre lacked essential medical equipment needed to provide quality healthcare, particularly for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children.

A health worker, Chinyere Eze, said the facility had no hospital beds, patient chairs, delivery couches, examination equipment and other critical medical tools.

She also lamented the absence of electricity, saying health workers faced serious difficulties attending to emergencies and conducting deliveries at night.

The Officer-in-Charge of the health centre, Ogochukwu Uto, confirmed that the facility was operating under difficult conditions.

According to her, the centre provides antenatal care, immunisation, child delivery and other primary healthcare services, but health workers are often forced to improvise because the available equipment is outdated and grossly inadequate.

Uto also decried the deteriorating environment, attributing the situation to severe erosion and indiscriminate dumping of refuse around the premises.

She warned that the environmental challenges posed serious risks to the health and safety of patients and health workers.

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.