The Chief Medical Director, CMD, of Central Specialist Hospital, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, Dr Akinola Olusumade, has said that the 21-day closure of his hospital, due to Lassa Fever infection, has resulted in damage to its image and reputation. He made this known in a chat with National Mirror recently. Already, our correspondent gathered that fumigation or decontamination of the two private hospitals in Ota Local Government, – Central Specialist Hospital and Rubee Specialist Hospital, where the Lassa patient was admitted before being transferred to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, had been carried out.
National Mirror gathered that the fumigation of the two hospitals took place between 8.00am and 4.00pm on Friday, February, 3, but the presence of the fumigating team and subsequent closure of the hospitals has been misunderstood by members of the community who say the action, by the state Ministry of Health was a kind of punishment for professional misconduct.
Based on this, Dr Olusumade, accuses Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr Babatunde Ipaye, of not properly disseminating the information thereby causing the public to misunderstand the action. “It is not against professional practice to fumigate premises of a health facility where a case of epidemics like Lassa fever or Ebola has been reported or to quarantine its staff, but if the place is going to be shut, the announcement should not be made as if it is a verdict for professional misconduct,” he said. On the other hand, the Central Specialist Hospital CMD, said his major grouse against Ogun State Ministry of Health is for non-recognition of the management of the two hospitals that treated the Lassa fever patient. “They made the whole world believe it was solely the efforts of the state health officials, the use of their facilities and equipment on ground and support of the political leadership’s enabling environment that resulted in quick diagnosis and transfer of the patient to the right place for further treatment. I think credit should be given to those who deserve it. Are they saying indirectly doctors should shirk their professional responsibility if they discover Lassa fever virus in another patient? “They shut the place and asked everybody to go their different homes; but have they forgotten I have to pay my workers who will be idle for almost a month, fail to monitor health of my in-patients who need special care, lose valuable but quality drugs and chemicals which are always kept under a particular temperature. Also, another effect of the closure is that patients will lose the confidence they have in those managing their health. If this Lassa case had been reported in a government hospital, would it have been closed for a day after fumigating it? In saner climes, government doesn’t close a hospital that has done the right thing as we have done without giving it some financial lifting for it to survive,” he said. He advised government in the three tiers of government in Nigeria to give proper education about Lassa fever to the citizens.
“If they have to close a hospital, they should let the people understand the reason for the closure, not just making announcement like a magistrate giving a ruling,” he added.
By: Franka Osakwe
National Mirror News
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