But for the signpost with the inscription, “Multicare Hospital and Women Welfare Centre”, placed in front of the uncompleted two-storey building at the Omagba phase one area of Onitsha, nothing suggests that the occupant is involved in health matters.
From the entrance to the building through the staircase, one is confronted with a blinding smell of drugs and medical wastes. Inside the rooms, the patients sweated profusely on top of creaky beds with torn mattresses. For lack of space, some of them lay on the stretcher, taking infusion by the staircase. Others writhing in pains from various degrees of injuries, spat intermittently to ward off the stench that pervaded the place.
Some persons peeping out from iron rod protectors on the second floor of the building. It was later gathered that they were patients detained by the owner of the hospital due to their inability to pay their medical bills. Sources stated that some of them have stayed in ‘captivity’ for nearly two years as they seek for ways of settling their bills and regain their freedom.
While in the illegal detention, they survive on pittances thrown up to them by passersby and few others who muster courage to climb up the stairs to offer them something. To ensure that they do not escape, the Doctor fixed the iron rods on the windows and chained up the apartment with heavy padlocks. Only the nurses in the hospital are allowed to open the padlocks periodically when they want to pick up any medical devices on that floor. Pretending to be a benefactor who came to see a patient and alleviate the pains of some of those on admission, a reporter mingled with the ‘inmates’ and came out with chilling revelations as some of the patients told their stories.
One of the detained patients, Afamefuna Mbachu from Umuchu in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State said that he has stayed in the hospital for the past 14 months. He said it was an accidental discharge from a gun fired by a security man at the old motor spare parts market in neighbouring Obosi town that landed him in the hospital. He said after some weeks of treatment he got better but was given a bill of N297,000 and because he couldn’t offset his medical bill, the doctor said he should relinquish his bed for new patients. Consequently, Afam was transferred upstairs to the awaiting payment detention centre. Alot of other patients also complained about being in illegal dention.
When a journalist took up the issues raised by the patients and their neighbours with the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Stephen Ilochi, he denied detaining people in his hospital. He said that they render quality service in the hospital and that people pay according to services rendered to them.
“These are all lies. What do you mean by detention? The fact is that anywhere you treat people with bone problems like teaching hospitals and government orthopaedic hospitals, people spend up to one year in the hospital and naturally, the bill will be higher. So, if such people don’t have money to pay, you give them time to source for it. Is that detention?
The matter was however taken up with the State Branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
The Chairman of the Association, Dr. Marcel Nnoba said that it is the Directorate of Medical Services, Ministry of Health, that constitutes a task force to check abuses in health practice. However, he assured that the association would not hesitate to investigate matters reported to them.
source:sun news
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