By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, has decried the challenges of seasonal erosion, non-connection to public water supply and others confronting the hospital.

The Medical Director of the hospital, Mr Monday Igwe, told newsmen on Sunday that a seasonal river runs right across and bisects the hospital.

Igwe noted that the hospital, the only specialist neuropsychiatric hospital in the South-East, had a very large area of drainage, adding: “It poses serious flood, erosion and ecological problems for us.”

“There is always flooding of water into the Medical Library, Outpatient building and parts of some wards with regular pulling down of our perimeter fencing, both at the entry and exit points,” he said.

The medical director said that the hospital lacks connection to public water supply; while in this era of COVID-19 pandemic, the management had been constrained to pay more for water supply.

“We were connected to public water supply about a decade ago. Attempts to sink a borehole failed as water levels in the hospital premises were not easily assessed.

“All water for staff, patients and relations is paid for despite paucity of funds. Enugu State Water Board can reconnect us but we lack the finances to pay for this at this period,” he said.

Igwe also said that at night the entire hospital premises were swallowed by darkness because of malfunctioning streetlights in the hospital; thus, making nursing psychiatric patients in such an environment not only tasking but dangerous.

“The hospital management has been constrained by paucity of funds as monthly government overhead allocation is not enough to take care of several demands especially paying of electricity bills, buying of water and maintenance works within the hospital,” he said.

The medical director stressed the need to complete the abandoned nursing administrative complex; which would help to solve the challenge of shortage of offices for staff.

He said: “The hospital inherited structures initially meant for the temporary site of Federal Government College, Enugu and almost all the facilities in the hospital are dilapidated and need attention urgently. This calls for extensive renovation.

“Also, since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital has continued to maintain full services and this has posed greater problems in the areas of reduced internally generated revenue yet more funds are needed to buy gloves, face masks, sanitisers and other personal protective devices.”

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