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•UCH, ABUTH, UNTH, others groan
By Magnus Eze, Oluseye Ojo, Vivian Onyebukwa, Noah Ebije, Lateef Dada
Teaching hospitals across the country are in grave danger of a major crisis following their inability to pay heavy electricity bills imposed on them by electricity distribution companies.
As a way of mitigating what now appears to be a major threat to medical services, management of the tertiary medical institutions are resorting to alternative sources of energy in addition to several other stiff measures.
Stakeholders are concerned that the situation would compromise the integrity and availability of essential healthcare services, even as patients seeking medical care at these facilities would ultimately be at the receiving end, as their bills would naturally skyrocket.
Blackout, protest, anger at UCH
Patients and their families at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Oyo State, have for three weeks been in pain following power blackouts and water shortage at the teaching hospital, leading them to stage a protest against the authorities.
The current blackout, the second in eight months, is as a result of the hospital being disconnected from electricity supply by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC). The dire situation has compromised the integrity and availability of essential healthcare services in UCH, which is said to be on the ‘Band A’ electricity tariff structure.
Saturday Sun gathered that some patients have resorted to using torch light from mobile phones and lamps to illuminate the wards at critical moments at night amid intense heat.
The first disconnection this year, which lasted for 17 days occurred between March and April, was as a result of unresolved debt issues, leading to disruptions in critical health services.
Our correspondent gathered that the UCH receives a monthly bill of N99 million from the electricity distribution company. Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Prof. Abiodun Otegbayo, has revealed that the hospital got a cumulative bill of over N3.1billion from IBEDC from 2019 till date, of which over N2.9 billion had been paid. The hospital, he said, had an outstanding of over N392 million to settle the accumulated bills.
Otegbayo made the disclosure in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer, ‘Funmi Adetuyibi, detailing the challenges of power supply at the teaching hospital,.
The hospital’s management lamented that: “This power disconnection has resulted in our inability to effectively meet our mandate (Clinical Service, Research and Training) to our esteemed patients. As a result of this, we sincerely identify with our patients and their relations at this period.”
Otegbayo stated that the hospital has been leveraging on backup generators to power critical areas, including emergency department, operating theatres, Intensive Care Unit, and laboratories, among others.
Busolami Tunwase, spokesperson for Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company explained that there was an agreement on how the debt would be paid before the disconnection.
“But UCH has reneged on the agreement. This led to the disconnection. I need to let you know that UCH is not the only teaching hospital within our franchise. We have OAU Teaching Hospital and OOU Teaching Hospital in Ago Iwoye. We are not having issues with them paying the bills. Why is the case of UCH different?
“At the moment, UCH owes IBEDC about N400 million. We don’t have an issue in putting UCH on Band A, and they will be having power supply for 20 to 24 hours daily. The hospital is billed based on what they use per month. IBEDC does not generate electricity. We only distribute. The electricity that we distribute, we also buy.”
UNTH groans over heavy bills, as disco disconnects, reconnects hospital
The management of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku- Ozalla, Enugu State is disturbed over the heavy yoke of electricity bills.
Saturday Sun was informed that the hospital gets over N30 million electricity bill every month. It was also gathered that the hospital’s case was compounded by its inclusion in the Band A structure.
The issue topped the hospital’s management meeting in July when how to handle the situation was extensively discussed. After reconciliation with the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), the hospital was to pay about N36 million.
It was not possible to ascertain the total indebtedness of the UNTH to the current disco, Mainpower Electricity Distribution Company Limited. However, field engineers of the electricity company disconnected the hospital from the grid during the week. But power was later restored in the teaching hospital after the management was able to pay an unspecified amount to the disco.
“The thing is outrageous. I don’t know the actual amount but I know that when the case came up in our meeting in July, we were to pay N36 million, and these huge bills are expected to be paid by a non-profit establishment. What we do is that we keep talking with the disco. We wish there was a way out. But, we keep managing, though it’s not easy at all,” our source bemoaned.
Immediate past Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Charles Igwe had earlier in the year lamented that the institution was spending over N80 million monthly on electricity on its three campuses, the College of Medicine, inclusive. The UNN College of Medicine shares premises with the UNTH though the college pays its own electricity bills.
ABUTH’s greatest challenge is energy
The greatest challenge facing the Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, Zaria is high electricity tariff.
Saturday Sun found out that the hospital’s monthly electricity bill stands at over N80 million, forcing the hospital management to opt for renewable energy. It was also discovered that each of the critical departments and unit blocks of the hospital would gradually transition to renewable energy over time.
Chief Medical Director of ABUTH, Prof. Ahmed Hamidu, had a few months ago disclosed that “last year (2023), we paid around N240 million as outstanding payment to Kaduna Electric. By the end of the year, it had accumulated to over N200 million again.
“And due to the current increase in the energy tariff, in June this year alone, we paid N25 million
“Additionally, we spent N47 million on diesel last month. So, when you add everything, we’re talking about over N100 million per month for energy, which is not sustainable.
“We are deeply concerned and don’t know where to get the money. Even if we use all the funds available in the hospital to pay for energy, it wouldn’t be enough.”
The CMD, however, said that despite challenges at the facility, it would not increase charges for services. He stressed that “we cannot raise the cost of services or health inquiries due to our current challenges and our location in Zaria, which is a civil service town.
“Increasing the cost of services is not an option because patients would stop coming, and we cannot shut the hospital.
OAUTHC considers alternative sources, says IBEDC bill becoming unbearable
The Chief Medical Director of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Prof. John Okeniyi, has disclosed plans by the hospital to find alternative means to the problem of electricity.
Prof. Okeniyi told our correspondent that the bill of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) is becoming unbearable, saying that efforts are on to reduce usage of electricity. He disclosed that the hospital has embarked on solar power to reduce the payment of electricity by half, saying the hospital cannot afford to pay N40 million every month.
“Recently, they cut our electricity because we paid 62.5 percent. We paid N25 million of N40 million. IBEDC felt we were not meeting up. We had to cough out another N15 million in less than 24 hours.
“That is why the head of electrical said, don’t use the air conditioner all the time; put off your fridge when you are leaving at the weekend; don’t leave your computer systems on.
“It is not yet the end, we are also going solar. The ultimate is to get the laboratory and the main theatre because you cannot do anything without power in those places. Other places, you can open the window, but you can’t open the window in the theatre. So, we have to get other places on solar. The solar will be used in car parks at night.
“With what those people are doing to us, it is God that will give us light at the end. It may take us a while. When MTN first came, some people bought the line at a huge cost and later they were giving it out for free. We will get to that on the electricity.
“The teaching hospital is not a profit-making organization, and we shouldn’t be on the Band A simply because we need light 24 hours and be paying industrial rates. I can’t be paying the same rate as a steel rolling company, but on paper, that is what we have in Nigeria.
“I have decided to meter everywhere. All union buildings will be metered. It is pay as you go. If you want to be cooking beans with electricity, it will not be on the hospital’s bill. The School of Nursing will be metered,” the CMD said.
LUTH resorts to alternative sources, lament N140 million bill
The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) is relying heavily on solar energy inverters and generators with diesel to power the teaching hospital. Like several other tertiary medical facilities, it is on the Band A structure. The hospital’s electricity bill hovers around N130 million to N140 million per month. Dr. Ayodeji Oluwole, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, (CMAC), LUTH told Saturday Sun: “We have energy for a considerable number of hours every day unless there’s a nationwide grid collapse.
“Services are going on in critical areas as that’s where we’ve installed alternative energy like solar panels. We’ve solar in both adult and paediatric emergencies, blood bank, labour ward complex which comprises the labour ward, labour ward theatre and neonatal intensive care unit, modular theatre and critical care unit and the medical ward block A.
“We’ve also started installing solar panels on wards B, C and D. We’re on a phased installation of solar inverters to all parts of the hospital to mitigate the frequent energy crisis.”
2 months after, FG’s intervention not yet working
Former Minister of State for Health, Mr Tunji Alausa, had in September, said the federal government proposed a 50 per cent electricity subsidy for teaching hospitals.
The government later clarified that its planned electricity subsidy for tertiary educational institutions may only apply to 37 federal universities and seven teaching hospitals affiliated with some of them. The government also said the private businesses inside the selected institutions will not benefit from the subsidy.
The proposed subsidy is in response to the groans by universities and teaching hospitals that the amounts they are being charged by electricity distribution companies are unsustainable. But two months after the pronouncement, no teaching hospital in Nigeria has benefited from the electricity rebate.
Most of the hospitals continue to battle with mounting electricity bills, which are taking a toll on their day-to-day operations.
