Yagoua Regional Hospital Annex: Sanctuary of death for Patients

In a state of total decay, horrible hospital services, rude staff, and absolutely appalling sanitary conditions, the Yagoua Regional Hospital Annex, in the Far North Region is more of a death trap and infection center for patients and visitors. For weeks now, the Director-General of the Hospital, Dr. Fidele Dema has been under fire from authorities for the shambolic conditions the hospital has found itself in.

With its stature as an established healthcare Institution that provides basic health services to the people of the Mayo-Danay division, the hospital receives and treats patients from all age groups, irrespective of the disease.

To begin with, the hospital is completely void of the most basic feature any health establishment should be known for. The hospital has extremely horrible sanitary conditions. With Cameroon like the rest of the world battling with COVID-19, it is imperative for hospitals to more than all be references to the application of barrier measures.

It is however not the case with the Yagoua Regional Hospital Annex. The buckets of water placed at the entrance of the establishment for proper handwashing is most often than not without soap and always empty as well; the wearing of facemasks is non-existent at the hospital from patients, to visitors and even hospital staff. Social distancing is not a thing at the hospital premises. Finances of the hospital have over time been funded into several other personal projects than those of equipping the hospital and making the conditions liveable for its patients and visitors.

Added to these factors which have contributed to increased daily deaths at the hospital, the incompetence, and unprofessionalism of the hospital staff is quite alarming and highly disturbing. There is a particular case of the Pharmacy attendant of the hospital who has on most occasions gone on breaks and returned to his duty post dead drunk and staggering. In such a stage, how will patients’ prescriptions be accurately administered?

The negligence of the establishment is rooted deep inside the hospital. Even within hospital wards, health workers are mostly only focused on what gets into their pockets at the end of the day. No other thing matters. It is common to see visitors seated on patients’ beds in their numbers. Others come into the hospital and are allowed to sit on the floor like refugees in a camp.

All these happening under the auspices of a Director charged with overseeing the daily activities of the hospital and the welfare of the patients. The Director of the Hospital was summoned some weeks ago to provide necessary answers to the unending complaints emanating from his post of duty, answers which at the end of the day were hugely underwhelming.

As days go by, the conditions of the hospital continue moving from bad to worse. Patients of the hospital have launched a tirade of complaints against the establishment, calling for its absolute reformation and clear out in staff and management.

Persons who have experienced the porous services the hospital has to offer are adamant that the majority of the deaths recorded at the Yagoua Regional Hospital annex are due to gross negligence and carelessness of the staff.

“Can you imagine that a patient received close to the weekend will be made to wait till the beginning of the week for treatment processes to be initiated on him/her? It doesn’t matter the kind of infection you have, deadly or not it doesn’t concern and doesn’t matter to them” explains Silvain Pascal, a former patient of the hospital.

Many persons of Mayo-Danay have made declarations of rather choosing death to come to the Yagoua Regional Hospital Annex. The place is an institutional sham and an absolute death trap for patients and visitors.

The hospital is not even guaranteed of a constant supply of Electricity on a daily basis. Hospital generators are damaged and in desperate need of repairs. Not even the surgical wards of the hospital are lit when there is a power outage. If at the time Electricity ceases when an operation is going on, then only fate saves the victim of such circumstances.

In a hospital of the magnitude of the Yagoua Regional Hospital Annex, Patients in need of blood transfusion will need to go search for his/her donors to bring to the establishment for transfusion. The blood in the blood banks is only sold to the highest earners irrespective of the emergency at hand.

Another incident proving the extreme negligence of the hospital is the disappearance of its safe. The money safe had suddenly vanished from the hospital without any trace or proof of theft.

Security guards of the institution have however been arrested as the main suspects of the theft. There is however no proof that they are responsible as they equally reportedly had no access to the hospital safe.

The population of Mayo-Danay meanwhile have their hopes and attention turned to Administrative authorities to rescue the hospital from such abominable management. Major decisions are awaited at the hospital, but there is little optimism the decisions will be made anytime soon.