Helpless patients at the Federal Medical Centre
(FMC) Owerri the Imo State capital, have called
on appropriate authorities and stakeholders to
intervene in the lingering crisis between the
staff and management of the medical centre. The patients have been at the receiving end since
medical services have been crippled in the hospital,
because medical attention given to them has been
stopped. Channels TV correspondent, who visited the
hospital, reported that most of the offices were
under lock and key with all the wards deserted. He
said that some patients who were still in the wards
were already on their way out of the hospital as a
result of no attention given to them anymore. The staff of the medical centre had earlier called on the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to
beam his searchlight on the recent activities affecting the staff and
patients of the health institution. They accused the board and management of the
health institution of allegedly concluding plans to
privatize and commercialise some key departments
in the institution. The feud between the two parties took a new
dimension when hundreds of staff of the medical
centre took to the streets of Owerri, carrying
placards with various derogatory inscriptions calling for the removal of their Medical Director, Dr
Angela Uwakem , whom they accused of financial misappropriation,
high-handedness and victimization. In a bid to ensure peace and find a lasting solution
to this rift between the management and staff, the FMC board suspended plans by the management to
go further with the privatisation plans and reversed the query letters given to staff in the
course of the feud. The board then called on the staff to return to their
normal duties and assured them that every decision
taken by the board would always be in the best
interest of the staff. The protesting workers have, however, maintained
their stance that the Medical Director must be
removed from office, stating that until she is removed, they would not return to their duty post . FMC Owerri is one of the most functional hospitals in
Imo State and the lingering crisis in the hospital has
crippled the health sector in the state. It is therefore
expected that the appropriate authorities would
intervene for the good of the helpless patients.