By Uzair Adam Imam
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has expressed his deepest displeasure over the dilapidated conditions of Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital, a government-owned and one of the busiest hospitals in the state.
The Governor showed dissatisfaction concerning the state of the facility when he led other top government functionaries on an unscheduled visit and on-the-spot assessment of the hospital over the weekend.
Sunusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, the state’s Chief Press Secretary, made this disclosure in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on the weekend.
Dawakin-Tofa quoted the governor to have said, “As a teaching hospital for training medical professionals and provision of tertiary medical care, the hospital needs to be overhauled and expand its services, especially maternity services and care for the children.
“It is disheartening to meet the hospital that caters for the medical needs of thousands of patients daily in a condition uncomfortable for human inhabitation, a situation that needs to be checked and corrected,” Governor Yusuf stressed.
“I do instruct the management of the hospital to, as a matter of urgency, forward the request for rehabilitation and expansion of the hospital for immediate action to restore the lost glory of the gigantic health facility,” he added.
The Daily Reality, in an investigative report last year, recounted the monstrous condition of another state-owned hospital, Sir Muhammadu Sunusi Specialist Hospital, Yankaba, where patients were living miserably without water and light.
Our reporter visited the hospital and met some patients in dire situations, fighting excessive heat with their hand fans, which has thrown many of them into a dilemma.
The Daily Reality learned that all the taps in the hospital were not working, except one borehole, which the patients said works for less than one hour every day.
Recounting their experiences, some patient sitters complained that they used sachet water, alias pure water, to bathe, flush toilets, make ablutions and wash their dishes.
They also complained about the lack of electricity, which they said was responsible for many problems in the hospital.