First Consultants Hospital Cry Out For Help.

In an interview with Tribune the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr Benjamin Ohiaeri reveals how the stigmatization of Ebola which was brought to the hospital has caused a drastic reduction in the number of people patronizing the hospital even though their selfless heroic work helped in combatting the disease from spreading.

He said,

The loss of Dr Adadevoh, Dr Abaniwo, Evelyn Uko and Ejelonu, four key members of our team, the first two of who were the most senior of our medics and members of the Hospital Executive Committee, has been hard.
They were colleagues, they were family. We are talking of a lifetime of working as a close team – as confidantes, as family. So, yes it’s been very tough.

As well as our fallen heroes, we have many of the survivors here. Medics, who placed their lives on the line to avoid Ebola spreading to the general public; they suffered the trauma of threats to their lives and the horror of rejection, in many cases, simply because they once had Ebola.

 The families of our people have suffered horrendous victimisation too. Children of the dead hounded out of rented homes just when they needed compassion; the husband of a sufferer thrown out of his job simply because the employer learned of his wife’s condition.

The pain, the suffering, the horror goes on and on. Still, our people are back at work, doing what they do best – caring for the ill.

He was also asked, if there was another “Patrick Sawyer” would the hospital admit them. He responded by saying,

We are professionals, sworn to patient care. We are not in the business of denying care to the sick. We are in the business of attending to those who require care.

Yet, we are a private care facility. We depend on the confidence and business of private individuals and private businesses to survive. Where that confidence shrinks, we suffer. Where we suffer for the cause of acting in the public good, we deserve support by the authorities. We think this is the right thing to do. You can be assured that our professional colleagues and the general public are watching.

We continue to hope that someday he and his team will be rewarded for their selfless work to humanity.

Heroic First Consultants Team: from the picture, we have Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri (Middle) and Ebola Survivor – Dr. Ada Igonoh (second from left)