UUTH: I waive up to 12 million naira unpaid medical bills monthly – CMD 
By Imó Etim
The Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Professor Ememabasi Bassey, has decried losses incurred by the health facility due to the inability of some patients to foot their medical bills.
The CMD during a radio programme, All Eyes on Arise with Itoro Columba on Comfort FM on Thursday, 21 September 2023 noted that he waives between 10 to 12 million naira of unpaid medical bills monthly because patients lacked the capacity to pay such bills.
The former Commissioner for Health in Akwa Ibom while highlighting the current challenges faced in the daily running of the facility revealed that about 40 % of those who visited the hospital could not afford medical bills, causing him to forgo such a huge amount, identifying power supply and manpower as major challenges encountered in running the hospital.
He said: “The annoying fact that people need to understand is that about 40% of people who come to the hospital cannot afford medical bills.
“There is no month as Chief Executive that I don’t waive between 10 to 12 million naira unpaid bills. As huge as that, because when people come, they come in an emergency and they are supposed to pay but we don’t want people dying. When people come to the hospital and talk about what we are not doing, there are things they need but they don’t have money, and those things are not readily available and we have to buy, patients start to shout this and that.
The CMD harped on the need for the Akwa Ibom state government to put in place a robust Health Insurance policy to cater to the citizens, especially in times of emergency.
“That underscores the need for us to have a Health Insurance policy in this state.
“There must be a safety net that when you are going to the hospital or when you have an emergency you should not be thinking about how to raise the funds.
“Things have really gone bad, a blood bag which contains 50 in a carton, earlier this year was about 60 thousand naira, and right now it’s about 300 thousand naira. I’m just trying to tell you how bad things have become.
“I am sure you must have seen in the news that we have cut the OP fee by 50 percent, that is true. Luckily it is going on for only 3 months and we are going to make a major loss. Things are going right up and you are talking about reducing prices. Why am I doing that? As I said, our other mandate is training, where you have people who cannot afford to come to the hospital to have operations because they can’t afford the cost, how will the training part be possible?, ” he queried.
Professor Ememabasi maintained that prior to the increase in prices of petrol in the country, the hospital was enjoying 100 % patronage, most times seeking extra bed spaces to accommodate patients.
He hinged the decrease in manpower around the health sector in the country to the trend of professionals exiting the country in search of greener pastures in what he described as “ medical exodus ” adding that “Japa Syndrome” where skilled medical personnel were deserting the practise in Nigeria for options abroad was beyond his paygrade to address, noting that if the government put measures on ground to make the health workers feel more appreciated and meet their welfare needs, it could be greatly be addressed.
“People leave because of wages. If I can tell you that some West African Countries are offering our medical specialists 4,000–5,000 US Dollars.”
“My brother, if I were not a CMD and you offered me 5,000 US Dollars I would leave, I mean how much is my salary!”
The CMD who was reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari by September 2022 to serve his second term in office at UUTH maintained that aside manpower which usually takes a rigorous process to find replacements for those who leave, electricity supply was another major issue faced in the facility, as he spends not less than 1500 litres of diesel to keep the hospital running, and it would be a huge relieve if government assisted with a stable power supply to serve as alternative.