A concerned Rivers State resident, Florence Ben Wandibia, has raised serious concerns over the state of care and management at BMH Hospital, describing her experiences as troubling and in need of urgent attention.
In a statement, Wandibia alleged that the attitude of some doctors and nurses at the facility is “nonchalant,” claiming that patient care appears secondary to financial considerations. “What happens there is better experienced than being told. The nonchalant attitude of the doctors and nurses is a case study— all they care about is money,” she said.
She further noted that patients are often required to purchase basic medical supplies, including items as essential as plaster, with the hospital reportedly providing only minimal support materials.
“A hospital where you buy everything with your own money, including plaster—the only thing they offer is a plastic container to store your injections and medicines,” she added.
According to her, access to qualified doctors is limited, as patients are frequently attended to by auxiliary staff and trainee medical personnel.
“You can hardly see doctors when you need them. Patients are left in the hands of auxiliary staff and doctors who are still learning. The real doctors come only once a day,” she claimed.
She also expressed concern over the practice of senior doctors arriving with large groups of trainees. “They come with a crowd of trainee doctors and nurses, using critically ill patients as teaching subjects. Most times, sick people do not need that kind of crowd around them—anxiety can worsen their condition,” Wandibia said.
Wandibia criticized what she described as poor management and supervision within the hospital, highlighting the difficulty patients face in retrieving their medical files and consulting with doctors.
“The process of getting your file and seeing a doctor is always difficult,” she stated.
Recounting a personal experience involving her late younger relative, she alleged that a prescribed injection she had purchased was never administered.
“When I returned with the injection, another doctor was supposed to administer it. While checking his file, her phone rang. She answered and told me she was going downstairs because her husband had arrived. She left and never came back,” she recounted.
She further expressed concern over the hospital’s environment, citing a lack of basic protective measures. “There are no nets on the windows. While you are being treated for malaria, mosquitoes are still biting you and exposing you to more infections,” she said.
Questioning the state of government-owned facilities, Wandibia alleged systemic lapses in accountability. “Why is it that government facilities do not function well? Workers behave anyhow because those who should correct them also act the same way,” she said.
Additionally, she cited an unverified report of a patient’s death at the hospital, raising concerns about how the situation was handled. “A patient reportedly died around midnight, and as of the next day, the body was still in the ward among other patients. The trauma of knowing a corpse is nearby can even worsen a patient’s condition,” she alleged.
Wandibia called for a comprehensive overhaul of BMH and the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). “These hospitals need total overhauling. They must be sanitized,” she urged.
As of the time of this report, hospital authorities have not responded to the allegations.
