Residents, patients seek road to Kubwa hospital

Patients and staff of St. Vincent De Paul Hospital of the Daughters of Charity, Abuja, have called on government to provide an access road to the hospital. They said the distance from the former building of the hospital to the new building was just a five-minute walk, but that because there was no access road […]

Patients and staff of St. Vincent De Paul Hospital of the Daughters of Charity, Abuja, have called on government to provide an access road to the hospital.

They said the distance from the former building of the hospital to the new building was just a five-minute walk, but that because there was no access road or bridge over the stream that separated the buildings, patients and their families and staff had to go on a long drive round Kubwa before they accessed the new facility.

The hospital moved to a new building a fortnight ago following the demolition of the former building near the railway at Arab Road in Kubwa.

A resident of Kubwa, Jummai Idris, said she spent over one hour on a motorcycle a few days ago to take her child to the new facility when she could ordinarily have walked three minutes from her house at Arab Road to the facility.

“We are going through a lot of hardship, especially during emergencies. Most of us come here because of the quality of services they provide for us. Some public hospitals even refer us to this hospital for some types of care.

“Please government should provide a road and bridge over the stream so that we can access care without difficulty. If government builds a small bridge across the stream, we can come from different parts of the town easily like we used to before the former one was demolished, she said.

An out-patient who gave his name as John, said, “The hospital is just a stone’s throw from my neighbourhood, yet I have to go round on a long journey to come here,” he said.

Another resident of the area, Mrs. Mariam Eniola, said a bridge over the stream would give residents of the area access to other places aside easing access to the hospital.

The Coordinator of the hospital, Rev. Sister Mary Okoro, said patients, staff, as well as other residents of Kubwa would not face the untold hardship they currently faced to get to the hospital if government made an access road near the new ultra-modern facility.

Sister Okoro said the proprietors of the hospital, Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, was an international congregation founded by St Vincent de Paul and St Louis de Maria in 1633 in France, and that they worked in five continents and in 27 states in Nigeria.

“Our major focus anywhere we are is to provide succour to those who cannot get it anywhere and to serve the less privileged. The congregation works in the areas of health, education, pastoral work and others, and also has schools and institutions that care for children with disabilities, TB and leprosy,” she said.

The new hospital facility comprises an orthopaedic, medical and eye sections, among others.