18 UITH medical staff test positive for COVID-19 ― JOHESU

Eighteen of the medical staff of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Kwara state are positive to COVID-19 and are currently undergoing treatment for coronavirus in the teaching hospital.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday in the sideline of a meeting of members of staff of the hospital, the chairman of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) in the hospital, Pastor Oluwawunmi Olutunde, said that some staff had tested positive severally.

The statement was corroborated by members of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) in the hospital.

Olutunde, who said that the UITH is yet to have COVID-19 isolation centre, added that the management had converted one of the wards in the hospital to a centre.

“We want better protection and adequate PPE for our staff. We are exposed because we lack a lot of materials here. They’re trying to rectify the issue of PPEs, but it’s not been given. It’s promising.

“Presently in our hospital here we have 22 nurses, eight assistants ward orderlies, six cleaners. We used to keep Covid-19 patients at the state isolation centre. We no longer move them to state isolation centre, we nurse them here in the UITH.

“It’s actually a converted ward. We’ve not got our own isolation centre. It’s supposed to have been built for us by the government. But they’re yet to build it, coupled with the fact that there’s an increase in the number of patients who are testing positive, we now have to take patients in here to nurse them. So, with that, the ward was converted to that.

“Our agitation is that as the ward is converted, it should be properly adjusted to suit the purpose in order not to affect people who are working there. Those working there are not comfortable with the situation”, he said.

Olutunde, who also called on the management of the teaching hospital to be more concerned on payment of the 2009 and 2011 promotion arrears, said that the staff had been patient enough.

“Our members are tired of waiting. The management should not waste time conducting promotion as at when due so that arrears would not be accumulating. This is a major grey area of our demands from the management. The management has promised to look into other administrative demands, saying they’re working on them.

The workers, who also complained of security challenges in the hospital to the management, said cars of some staff had been stolen, houses were burgled, and some staff beaten.

“The management has employed more security personnel. We have seen more of security personnel patrolling, but they still need to do more at increasing security personnel to ward off criminal elements away from the area,” he said.

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