Tracking the Construction of Gongulong Healthcare Facility in Jere Local Government (N105,869,426.40)

REVAMP GONGULANG

Gongulang community clinic project was initiated to be upgraded in 2017 to serve as a general hospital with a provision to have wards and departments that will help in providing effective service for the affected population. Construction started in 2018 with a capital budgetary release of about N105, 869,426.40 but the project stopped at almost 70% completion.

The community outreach intends to find the gaps and proper possible ways and advocate for the completion of the health facility in the community.

Figure 1. Uncompleted Doctors quarters

Challenges faced over the lack of or incapacitation of the facility.

The Gongulong health facility is virtually completed of all needed structural buildings, from the male war d, female ward, labor rooms and other staffer’s offices, with the staff quarters and Toilet at 70% completion. However, only a fraction of the facility is functional because there are no materials available to run the office. Lack of water, light and enough couches are one of the major issues faced in the hospital. With nearly a population of over 10,000 people relying on the Gongulong clinic, there’s only 3 bed space in the whole hospital as of 23/12/2019. This makes the hospital incapable of admitting patients for long, as the bed spaces are always occupied or preoccupied. This has also tempered with the coordination of service delivery in the facility, as every room serves every purpose depending on the need at the moment. Light and water are a major problem as well. There has never been light in the facility, neither has there ever been water, which makes the place even more miserable.

Figure 2. A male patient been attended to in a labor room due to lack of Bed

 Issues surrounding the project currently being implemented

The main issues surrounding the project are the lack of supply of equipment and facilities to run the hospital. There’s also a lack of human resources, as there is no single Doctor that sleeps the night in the village. The incompletion of the Doctors’ quarters and lack of water and power are major contributors to these problems. When an emergency occurs in the night, patients can only be moved to Maiduguri town or laid in the hospital without any professional consultation. Other facility issues include lack of a good gate entrance to the hospital, which poses a great risk of theft and crime to the hospital.

Figure 3: Completed male ward without bed and facilities

Expectations of the community members on the project.

The expectation of the people from the project is for the government to take action in completing the project and provide facilities to   meet the demands of over 20 villages within the Gongulong community. This will serve the needs of the people and reduce the rates of sufferings faced as a result of poor healthcare services.

Figure 4 Patients waiting for consultation on a mat as 3 bed spaces are occupied

Call to Action from the government on the project?

The community people call on the government to intervene by providing beds to the hospitals and increasing the number of professionals, especially doctors and nurses. This will go along way in saving a lot of lives. They also call on the government to complete the doctors quarters, so that doctors can stay overnight and perform their duties. With a call on the government to fix the gate of the hospital for security purposes.

Leave a Reply