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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Chief Medical Director (CMD), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, Kaduna State, Ahmed Umdagas Hamidu, has decried that the N75 million monthly electricity consumption at the facility is not sustainable.
The medical director, who stated this in his office while hosting some health correspondents, was quick to add that, each of the critical departments and unit blocks would have to shift gradually to renewable energy sources over time.
“I can tell you that the greatest challenge we are facing now is energy. Last year, we paid around N240 million as an outstanding payment to Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO). By the end of the year, it accumulated to over N200 million again.
“And due to the current increase in the tariff of energy, last month alone, we paid N25 million but the last bill that was brought to us was N75 million.
“I am talking of just KEDCO alone for N75 million. Now talk of diesel, last month we spent N47 million on diesel also. So, if you add everything, we are talking about over N100 million for the supply of energy to this hospital per month which is not sustainable.
“We are disturbed and don’t know where to go and get the money. Even if you take the whole of the money we have in the hospital and say we are going to pay the bill to get energy, it won’t be enough,” he said.
When asked whether the facility would be increasing its charges on services it renders, the CMD said: “We cannot increase the cost of services or health inquiries in the hospital because of our current challenge and location where we are, Zaria, which is a civil service town. So, there is no way we can start increasing the cost of service in the hospital.
“Even if we increase it, the patients will not come, so what do we do? Are we going to shut down the hospital? That is something we cannot do.
“If you were here in 2019 when I became the CMD, you would not be able to sit in this office because of the state of the hospital.
“The problem is this, the hospital has been under construction for close to 40 years and there are some facilities, and building infrastructures that have been ongoing which have already expired by the time we came in.
“But we are trying our best. I think, so far, we have done about 50-60 per cent of the renovations. So, we are looking at rehabilitation of the hospital within the next two to three years to have a safe environment for the delivery of services.
“In our 2024 budget, we have taken about 15 percent of it to provide renewable energy so we can take off the Emerald suit for instance, it will require 24-hour power supply. By the end of the year, we will have renewable energy that can take one building of the hospital completely.
“We are looking at a few years from now, about 30-40 per cent of the hospital should be off the bill which will reduce the cost of energy for the hospital.
“Another thing we are looking out for is to ensure that areas with sensitive machines function with renewable energy. This is important because the surge in power supply spoils a lot of machines.
“These are the things we are doing to ensure there is an uninterrupted power supply to patients in the hospital.”
