Strike: Private hospitals record boom in Ibadan

Private Hospitals, mission homes and traditional birth attendants in Ibadan are recording tremendous increase in patronage following the on-going nationwide strike by health workers. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Wednesday that the health workers’ strike which began Sept. 20, had affected normal medical services in federal government owned hospitals and the 54 […]

Private Hospitals, mission homes and traditional birth attendants in Ibadan are recording tremendous increase in patronage following the on-going nationwide strike by health workers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Wednesday that the health workers’ strike which began Sept. 20, had affected normal medical services in federal government owned hospitals and the 54 teaching hospitals in Nigeria.

A survey of patronage in some private hospitals in Ibadan revealed that there was a high increase in the number of in- and out-patients at these hospitals.

At Ibadan Central Hospital, a senior nursing officer, who pleaded for anonymity, told NAN that the hospital had been treating an average of 76 new patients daily since the strike began.

“The hospital has recorded increase in the number of patients treated at the emergency department daily. This also includes the ante-natal unit,” she said.

At the Oluyoro Catholic Private Hospital, which is the hub of private hospitals in Ibadan, patients were seen at the emergency and ante-natal units in droves and the private suites were fully occupied.

Attempts to speak with the Director of Administration proved abortive as he was said to be attending series of meetings with some partners.

All the private and general wards were also filled to capacity with patients, while some of their family members defied regulations on visiting times as they stayed in clusters within the hospital premises.

Mr Kasali Akande, one of the residents who spoke with NAN, said he came to visit his wife who had delivered a set of twins at the hospital.

Akande explained that since the health workers’ strike began, every department in the hospital had been experiencing increase in the number of patients unlike when the situation was normal.

Madam Ramat Onide, who is a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA), told NAN that TBAs had been recording an increase in patronage because those patients, who had stopped patronage before now visit them for ante-natal.