By IBUKUN EMIOLA (NAN)

It is no longer news that the prestigious University College Hospital (UCH), a foremost teaching hospital in West Africa and its sub-regions, has been off the national grid since Oct. 27.

Perhaps, what is interesting, aside from the many challenges the situation has thrown up, are the opportunities emerging from the harsh situation.

Don?t patients and their relatives; the hospital?s management and staff, all have different stories to share?

?The disconnection of power at UCH is having a significant negative effect on us,? a patient?s relative, Adeola Hamzat, told a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Approached on one of the corridors of the hospital complex, the middle-aged woman, who brought her mother for treatment, said they had been on admission for a month.

She lamented how difficult it had been getting quality treatment because the generating sets to power some of the equipment for diagnostic services were rationed.

?To get some tests done, the hospital can put on a generating set for like 30 minutes and then switch it off.

?Sometimes, we would be asked to go outside the hospital premises to get the tests done.

?We were asked to go to Mokola for a urine test, which ought not to be so.

?The situation has never been heard of because I once put to bed here and there was always power supply then,? said Hamzat.

Though relieved that her mother had left the Accident and Emergency Department for the ward, she still lamented the rationing of power supply in the wards.

?The solar system will be put on at 7.00 p.m.

?Three days ago, when a blood sample was to be taken from my mother, we had to look for a torch, which led to the spilling of my mother?s blood in the process.

?My younger sister urged me to charge my feature phone to use as a source of light to avoid a repeat of the incident,? Hamzat said.

She, however, debunked the rumour making the rounds that patients were supplying the hospital with power from sources like solar energy and generating sets.

Another patient?s relative, Mr Aina Olapade, said there should be a constant power supply considering the hospital?s reputation.

He noted that the foremost teaching hospital in Nigeria should, by now, be generating power to run its activities.

He also debunked the news that patients supply electricity for their treatments.

According to him, the hospital provides solar systems and generating sets in some critical areas and some of the wards.

?Nevertheless, many things are now delayed because even when generating sets are on, they are timed for about five hours.

?This is not how things should be.

?There should be constant electricity because it is vital to this kind of environment and there is no way it won?t affect the excellent healthcare services being rendered here.

?If they cannot afford to pay IBEDC, then they cannot afford to run generating sets 24/7.

?Thank God for solar systems or else everywhere will be dark.

?Even at that, the solar systems cannot power every machine,? Olapade said.

NAN observes the deployment of pockets of solar systems around the premises to check the power challenge.

The notable areas with solar systems are the Blood Bank, Universal Laboratory, Accident and Emergency Unit, and the Children?s ward among others.

Some critical areas also have their streetlights on unlike some other areas, including the residential areas, left in darkness.

Some members of staff, who spoke anonymously, however, commended the management for rising to the occasion.

They said they had despised the situation, using either solar systems or generating sets to power their major machines.

A respondent/worker said they were still able to do what should be done.

?We?ve been conserving energy, sometimes putting on generating sets for a while to warm the other machines.

?This is because we don?t want them to get damaged due to lack of usage.

?Since we can?t put on fans or air conditioners, we bring portable rechargeable fans to reduce the effect of heat.

?I am sure IBEDC will be surprised to see that our work is still being done,? said the staffer.

Another staffer said they had been forced to use phone torchlights in places without alternative energy sources.

A member of staff in the Administration and Human Resource Unit said they put on their generating set for limited hours to get the most important work done.

?Sometimes, we carry our computer systems on our shoulders from one floor to another to work for like two to three hours a day,? the staffer said.

NAN reports all the respondents refuted the claim of patients supplying solar systems and power-generating sets to access care.

A staffer, residing within the hospital premises, said they (residents) had been forced to borrow money to buy solar systems for their homes.

Another responder said businesses within UCH had been paralysed and that the management had abysmally increased shop rent amid the power challenge.

Meanwhile, UCH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Abiodun Otegbayo, in a WhatsApp chat with NAN, said efforts had been made and more would still be made to keep the hospital running.

He encouraged NAN to do a thorough investigation and discover that ?IBEDC is not the only source of power?.

According to him, placing the hospital on Band A by IBEDC and its attendant high tariff, which is not sustainable, have been the issues.

He debunked the online media report that patients provide sources of power to run the hospital.

?Whoever alleged it must prove it.

?If you look at the picture of the generators in the publication, you will see that it is not UCH. They just merged it with UCH photo,? Otegbayo said.

He recounted the hospital had recorded various notable feats since it was cut off the national grid.

?An example is the performing of Myocardial Perfusion SPECT, a pioneering one in Nigeria; the non-invasive nuclear cardiology technique in how the hospital diagnoses and manages heart conditions,? he said.

Otegbayo said that despite working on sustainable power supply, UCH had continued to deliver exceptional medical care.

?On Jan. 13, a team of skilled surgeons, led by Prof. Olayiwola Babatunde Shittu, successfully performed an intricate procedure to reconstruct a urethral stricture in a 50-year-old patient, who had suffered a pelvic bone fracture in a road traffic accident, resulting in a complex injury requiring specialised expertise.

?Despite the daunting task, the UCH Ibadan team persevered, leveraging alternative power sources to maintain critical hospital functions,? said the CMD.

NAN cites Shittu?s praise of the hospital?s management as follows:

?Although the power situation has significantly impacted our ability to perform major interventions over the past year, our management team has found ways to adapt.

?We?re grateful for their dedication to ensuring our patients receive the best possible care,? the quote read.

The CMD also shared the progress report on the power issue with NAN as submitted to the Federal Ministry of Health.

The report includes goals to achieve a sustainable power supply for the hospital in the short, medium and long term.

According to him, the short term is the pockets of solar systems deployed; the medium term is to benefit from the 11 MW Hybrid Independent Power Project of the Oyo State Government.

?The hospital has requested for 300 KVA in a bid to ensure adequate support for the core clinical areas.

?Our long-term plans focus is to go completely off the national grid and establish a solar farm.

?The hospital has interacted with about 18 Independent Power Producer (IPP) vendors in the attempt to obtain a favourable Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

?The average cost has been in the range of 1 to 1.5 million USD. The intention is to choose the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) PPP option.

?It is also heartwarming that the Honourable Minister of Power has promised to give UCH a mini-grid with no particular timeline, hence our efforts for self-help at this stage,? read the report.

NAN reports the hospital?s management is executing its short-term intervention by providing solar-powered inverters in critical and sensitive service points.

Fingers are, however, crossed as we all await the implementation and realisation of the middle and long-term plans. (NAN

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