Fact Vs Fiction: Commissioner Obidike, CMD Umeakuewulu lead tour of COOUTH to debunks viral claims of poor condition

By Ifeizu Joe

The Commissioner for Health in Anambra State, Dr Afam Obidike and the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) Amaku, Awka, Dr. Maureen Umeakuewulu, have dismissed allegations circulating on social media about poor conditions of the facility.

A former staff of the hospital who is now resident abroad, Dr Charles Kenechukwu Ojukwu had within the week granted a podcast interview where he claimed that the facility was in poor condition and smelt of rot.

Ojukwu said among other things that the potholes on roads within the hospital were enough to make a patient relapse into coma, while adding that the wards smelt so terribly that one can hardly breathe well in the hospital.

The podcast guest who is also known as CKO lashed out at the state government’s attitude to healthcare, claiming that the newly built Solution Trauma Centre in COOUTH, which was built  by Governor Chukwuma Soludo was an empty edifice, devoid of medical equipment.

But in a swift and commendable reply to the allegations, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, the CMD of the hospital, Dr Umeakuewulu quickly arranged an emergency media tour of the hospital, where journalists inspected all areas of the facility, starting from the entrance gate, the roads in the hospital, wards and ending up at the Solutions Trauma Centre.

The tour was undertaken by journalists from various news organizations, including THE RAZOR and the host of GBAM Podcast, Mr Chijioke Igwendu on Friday.

Obidike said: “We saw the podcast video just yesterday and decided to host you all on a tour this morning. We don’t want to waste time, so that people will not say that we took time to conduct the tour because we wanted to clean up the hospital before inviting journalists.

“You have seen the roads, you have seen the wards they said are smelling, and you have seen the Solution Trauma Centre. The roads were not constructed this morning nor the grasses in this environment cut just this morning, just as the Trauma Centre that was said to be empty was not equipped overnight. You can see the improvement we have registered here, all thanks to Prof Chukwuma Soludo.

“The doctors you see here are the best paid in the entire country. No state pays their doctors the much that Anambra pays. Even federal government staff are not paid that much. You can go round and ask the doctors and they can attest to that themselves.”

Also, the CMD, Dr Umeakuewulu who spoke to journalists said that when she took over four months ago, she brought some changes into the hospital including ensuring automated card system, while also abolishing cash transactions in the hospital.

“You can see the environment of this hospital. The wards are neat, the roads are also in good shape, all thanks to our governor. I don’t want to join issues with the man who went on a podcast to criticize us because he was talking from limited knowledge.

“He was a staff here before he went to seek for greener pastures abroad, so he thought the institution was the same way he left it, so he went to the media with limited information. Our Solution Trauma Centre is fully equipped and is set to be the best in the country by the time we open it. Everything is set, we are only waiting for the commissioning,” she said.

The tour revealed to THE RAZOR that the allegations made by Ojukwu were false, as the roads within the hospital which were said to be in very dilapidated state were all smoothly paved. The hospital wards which were said to be smelling were all neat, while the Solution Trauma Centre was packed full with state-of-the-art equipment, and ready for commissioning and opening to the public.

The chairman of Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, (MDCAN), Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, COOUTH chapter, Dr Amaechi Nwachukwu, who is a renowned orthopaedic surgeon in an interview told journalists that he and his association would still have been fighting government if the place was as bad as Ojukwu painted.

“Journalists are aware of my battles in this teaching hospital when the place used to be in the worst of shapes. I fought the management until I was sacked from the hospital.The place was so dilapidated that every now and then, my association was always fighting management and even the state government.

“You people have been here several times when we declared strikes and gave ultimatum to the state government, both about our allowances and the state of the hospital. Today, we as a union acknowledge the fact that things have changed positively, and we look forward to more of it. So, no one should expect that we should keep fighting the state government. Our salary is about the best in the entire country, so why would anyone expect that we will keep fighting government?”

Some staff of the institution who spoke to journalists said Ojukwu should not be taken seriously with his allegations, adding that he was among those who were bought over by the previous leadership of the hospital to sing praises, and that his praises were so loud that even when everyone knew that the hospital was in terrible condition, he was praising the management.

“This was happening at a time when Dr Amaechi Nwachukwu and his team were fighting to ensure that things are done right here. So, he is not someone to be taken seriously,” the source concluded.