“We are operating purely by the mercy of God; part of the building has already collapsed, and the remaining structure is riddled with deep cracks. The roof leaks whenever it rains, and at any moment, what’s left could come down. If that happens, we won’t just lose a clinic—we could lose lives.” The health officer at the Bagaldi Health Clinic, in the Unguwar Rimi community of the Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, laments the sorry state of the facility.
The collapsing state of the hospital exposes the decay in Kaduna’s healthcare sector, as Daily Episode observed that the facility, which has been serving as a lifeline for emergency cases in Bagaldi for about 21 years, has now transformed to endanger the very lives it was meant to save—forcing women and children to seek medical observation under life-threatening conditions.
While revealing the urgency of renovating the facility, the health officer discloses that “patients are now travelling to far distances for fear of the unknown, especially when the weather is cloudy; they always assume one may die during rain at the facility.
“I and volunteers in the community run the hospital, but most times I’m here attending to patients alone, which is frightening, as others are scared to stay in the building due to its unsafe condition.
“What I normally do is vacate the facility whenever it’s rainy or I see its signs, for fear of a repeated collapse, which sounds heavy since the cracks on the remaining structure are visible, while the unstoppable leaks from the roof are too much to bear or manage to live with.
“I’m deeply concerned about the subscription of quack practitioners, self-medication, or the cultural norms of herbal patronage by the locals, since many are beginning to lose hope in this health clinic due to its poor infrastructure and distance to alternative medical facilities.
I hope that the government will intervene to standardise the Bagalda health facility by equipping it with more tools, so we will continue to deliver services to the vulnerable citizens of this community. She added
However, locals in the community decried government neglect, as they hoped not to lose loved ones in the remaining structure, suffering from deep cracks.
In an interview with Malam Hassan, whose wives and children have been visiting the facility for about a decade, he told Daily Episode that, after the 2023 election, “we thought the government would keep to its campaign promises, especially in the health sector.
But what is left in Bagaldi clinic is a clear message that the governor’s attention is somewhere else, but we urge him to understand the importance of access to a good healthcare system.
I will urge Governor Uba Sani to act on his word and remember God will ask him how he ruled Kaduna state as a governor, so he should swiftly act by putting in place a better structure at Bagaldi health clinic so citizens can enjoy the dividends of democracy,” Hassan urged.
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