Sunday, February 17, 2008

Sigh. Just, Sigh.

A question: If this had been a for-profit hospital, would this have happened?

Answer: no. Sigh.

Excerpt:

Unused hospital razed in Nigeria

A fully-equipped hospital that lay unused for two years has burned to the ground in northern Nigeria.

The General Hospital in Maiduguri was built in 2006 but the state government refused to open it until the president came to cut the ribbon.

Several surgical theatres, the intensive care ward, and the clinical section which held millions of dollars of equipment were all destroyed.

The president was due to visit the hospital next month to open it.

Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff blamed the fire on arsonists who wanted to damage his political reputation.

"There is not one hospital owned by a state government that has the type of world class equipment we had in there." Ali Modu Sheriff, Governor of Borno state

The governor had refused to open the hospital, which was ready for patients in June 2006, until former President Olusegun Obasanjo came to the state.

His visit was postponed several times, the last being just two months before the election in 2007.

His successor Umaru Yar'adua was due to visit later next month.

1 comment:

Dirty Davey said...

If it has been a for-profit hospital, it wouldn't have been built in Nigeria. That's a good plan for running an efficient hospital, but would leave Nigerians no better served than has the reported debacle.