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July 24, 2023
SaharaReporters had reported how rain left the children’s ward of the tertiary hospital flooded, and soaked through beds and others during a downpour last week.
The management of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, ESUT-Parklane, has inspected the children's ward after SaharaReporters reported on Thursday that the roof leaked rainwater into the ward during a downpour.
SaharaReporters had reported how rain left the children’s ward of the tertiary hospital flooded, and soaked through beds and others during a downpour last week.
It had been reported that rainwater leaked into the ward through leaky roofs as captured in videos obtained by SaharaReporters.
Videos of the incident obtained by SaharaReporters from a source in the hospital as captured at about 3:30 pm on Thursday, show as some of the rainwater was collected with buckets.
The source told one of our reporters that the rainwater leaked on beds and tables where patients' drugs were kept.
According to the source, some of the patients’ relations used buckets to collect the water, to prevent their belongings from getting wet.
However, SaharaReporters gathered on Monday that less than 24 hours after the report was published by SaharaReporters, a team of engineers visited the children's ward to inspect the leaky parts for immediate repairs.
A source who spoke to SaharaReporters on Monday said that the report has forced the hand of the Chief Medical Director, Prof Hyacinth Onah to do the needful.
The source said, "This SaharaReporters' report has now forced them to act. For a very long time, we have been writing to the management about leaking roofs, not only in the children's ward but in so many other places including drug parking stores. After writing the CMD, his team will come and inspect it but thereafter he will abandon it.
"In short, if you go to a drug store you will have to be careful because of the dilapidated nature of the place. We don't put drugs again on the shelves. So many cartons of drugs had been damaged because of the leaking roofs."
Speaking with one of our reporters, the CMD, Prof Onah, confirmed that there were leaking roofs in the hospital. He, however, added that the hospital had awarded a contract to repair all of them.
He said, "They brought the areas that were damaged and we have awarded contracts for all of them including the children's wards. If you doubt what I am saying come to my office so that I can show you the evidence.
"It affected the accident and emergency, it affected doctors' quarters, and it affected so many areas. So we are taking them one by one. If you doubt it, come and I will show you the papers."
"The buildings were built in 2006 and there were a lot of wind storms that blow up houses not only in Parklane but everywhere in Enugu. You can see a lot of people who patch their houses including my mine; in my house, I have to patch some areas," he said, adding that it was not only peculiar to ESUT-Parklane.