The Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Prof. Thomas Agan, has urged the Federal Government to take over payment of electricity bills of teaching hospitals.
Agan, who addressed reporters on the disconnection of power supply to the UCTH by the management of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) in Calabar, said the overhead allowance sent to the hospital by the Federal Government was too lean to meet the monthly charges of the PHEDC.
He said: "Over the years, they have been giving us estimated bill of N6.lmillion per month. But after a meter was installed, the bill reduced to N2.1 million monthly.
"The Business Manager of PHEDC in charge of Calabar, Mr. George Chinwo, came to equipment in the theatre have the hospital and said the arbeen damaged. rears is N35 million.
Mr. George Chinwo, came to the hospital and said the ar-rears is N35 million. "We moved to this new site between 2013 and 2014. Since then, we have been paying, and we have paid about N5 million this month.
"The hospital is not a profit-making venture; all we do is service delivery and if you disconnect power, you are crip-pling the system.
"About six patients were on the operating table when PHEDC carried out the disconnection".
According to Agan, the hos-pital needed to reconcile with the PHEDC over the payment plan, as it had been over-billed over the years.
"Some of our equipment hae been destroyed. We have babies in the incubator, which need light. "Our laboratories and equipment in the theatre have been damaged.
"We cannot carry out operations because we have no power. The Federal Government should intervene so that we can continue to save lives", he said.
The CMD appealed to the PHEDC management to reconnect the hospital, saying people's li were at risk. An em y e of PHEDC, Mr. John Onyi, said the company did not disconnect its cus-tomers without writing, as directed by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC).
His words: "In the case of UCTH, visitations were made to their office from May to July to make them understand why the outstanding bills should be paid.
"But the response was not forthcoming, hence the first disconnection on July 28.
"This disconnection prompted the UCTH to have a meeting with the PHEDC and electricity was reconnected on August 2.
"On August 16, 11 PHEDC delivered a letter to the hospital, titled: 'Need to settle outstanding PHEDC eneru bill, amounting to N35 million'.
"The outstanding debt was not a mouth's bill as claimed, but an accumulated bill arising from irregular paltry payments". Onyi said the disconnection was the last resort to recover the huge amount.
Said he: "PHEDC recognises UCTH as one of its customers established to make life better for people through good health care services.
"But the public should real-ise that the company is out to improve service delivery when customers pay for what they have consumed".
Source: The Nation News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
STOP paying for airtime and electricity, Let your phone pay its bills with ScreenT
You may also like
Comrade Lemii Christian Emerges Chairman of NANNM Rivers State Branch in Historic Victory
PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA Following the long awaited National Association of N…
FG Supports Robotic Surgery Expansion to Reduce Medical Tourism
Nigeria is taking another step toward strengthening specialised healthcare …
Complete Knee Replacement Rehabilitation Package in Lagos
Knee replacement surgery is a major step toward pain relief and improved mo…
NAMDA threatens strike over unpaid medical lecturers’ allowances
The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has warned…
Resident Doctors Signal End to Strike Threat After High-Level Talks with Gbajabiamila
The threat of a nationwide indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of…
