NAN-H-74
Hospital
By Sunday John
Lafia, Jan. 11, 2017 (NAN) Dr Yakubu Ashuko, Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) Lafia, on Wednesday said the hospital, most times, received more than 500 patients daily.
Ashuko spoke while hosting members and officials of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Nasarawa State Chapter in Lafia.
He said that the rate at which patients visit the hospital daily was alarming, so the government had to open an extension of the hospital at the Millionaires Quarters in Lafia.
The chief medical director said three doctors had been stationed permanently at the extension, in addition to the other doctors who report there daily.
“It is because of the congestion at the hospital that the management approached the state government, and the government has already commenced the building of a bigger hospital.
“As soon as the construction of the new specialist hospital along Shinge Road, Lafia is completed, it will go a long way in addressing the problem of congestion,” Ashuko said.
He disclosed that there were times the hospital management had to offer free service to patients, who come complaining of financial problems.
“We have even had cases where we had to convey patients to their villages in our vehicle after offering them free services because they were abandoned by their relatives,” the chief medical director said.
He urged journalists in the state to partner with its management to educate the public of its constraints and appealed to them to balance their report before publishing.
Ashuko assured the newsmen of the hospital management’s desire to collaborate with them.
Earlier, Suleiman Abubakar, the Correspondents Chapel Chairman, appealed to the hospital management to carry it along so as to give publicity to its activities. (NAN)
SDJ/COF/SOA
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Oluwole Sogunle