UCH Power Outage: Health Workers Sends SOS To FG

The Premier University College Hospital, Ibadan needs immediate help, the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU has cried out.

According to the Save our Soul, SOS, message sent to the federal government and well meaning Nigerians, JOHESU said the hospital is finding it difficult to provide essential held services because of power outage.

The company responsible for supplying power to the hospital, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBDC has cut its electricity for close to a months, throwing the hospital into utter darkness.

The chairman of the Union, Oladayo Olabampe said the power cut has affected the hospital, so much so that it could no longer render services to Nigerians seeking medical help.

The hospital power was cut by the IBDC due to the accumulated electricity bill, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

The magazine reports that the dicso had earlier disconnected the hospital for owing more than N500 million in electricity bill.

But the union said the bill has become ‘alarming and outrageous” for the hospital to pay, blaming the problem on the decision by IBDC to put “UCH on band A which the hospital cannot afford.

The union said the hospital is billed between N70 million and N80 million monthly as electricity bill, saying this is too high, adding that UCH should be categorized as a welfare service.

The JOHESU chairman said the hospital should be moved to the more affordable Band B to save it from debt.

Olabampe said, “This is why the hospital management told the company to remove UCH from Band A and put it in Band B but it (IBEDC) did not.

“So, we now want government to prevail on IBEDC to return UCH to Band B where it can afford to pay.

“Philanthropists and well-meaning Nigerians should also come to UCH’s aid and support it.

“Sometimes, some patients don’t even pay because they cannot afford to pay their bills even after we have treated them.

“So, IBEDC should just cooperate with the UCH management to settle some part of the bill for now and reconnect us while the payment negotiation continues.”