Prof Joseph Kortor, Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Center, FMC, Makurdi, Benue State, has stated that despite being one of the country’s first hospitals, the facility remains the least developed in Nigeria.
He also noted that the facility cannot compete with other sister FMCs in the country owing to its poor infrastructure, emphasizing that the center does not appear to be a hospital capable of providing serious services.
Kortor revealed this during an interview with reporters at his Makurdi office.
He pointed out that, whereas other FMCs in the country had made significant progress, the Makurdi center had remained neglected for decades.
He said:
“Go to FMCs in Jabi, Lagos, Abeokuta, and elsewhere; a lot of progress is being made there. I can’t even bring my colleagues (Makurdi) to witness what’s going on in Benue; there’s nothing to be proud of.
“You invite people to your house when you build a new one, or when your house is in good condition and you want your visitors to see it. But, when everything in your house is upside down, what are you going to show them? Is there anything particular you want people from all around the country to come see?
“We belong to a committee of CMDs that travels throughout the states to discuss FMCs, and if you have a problem or difficulty, you address it with your elder colleagues who advise you. We were meant to be in Maiduguri last year, but due to security concerns, we relocated to Abuja, and we will be in another state by March 2025. However, due to the bad condition of FMC Makurdi, I am unable to bring anyone here.
“There are no operable power plants to operate with here. You can see that you (journalists) are sweating profusely in my office owing to the heat. It is about budget padding, and I do not have the resources for it.
“When I came to take office here, I had a vision to turn around the hospital in accordance with the hospital’s objective of providing an effective and efficient leading hospital in the areas of research and training. So far, little has been accomplished. “I’ve spent a year, but we’re still crawling,” Prof. Kortor said.
He argued that despite the hospital’s poor condition, he had been able to put one or two items in place.
The CMD went on to say that he had successfully relocated all hospital services to their permanent location in Apir, with the exception of the children’s and female wards, which continue to provide services at the temporary site.
He stated that under his supervision, the hospital successfully developed a monocular laboratory for HIV testing and treatment, as well as a Lassa fever laboratory unit.
“We have established the monocular HIV laboratory. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has also improved our laboratory. We can now successfully collect samples from Lassa fever patients for lab tests and validate the results right here in Makurdi without having to travel outside of the state.
“We just confirmed Lassa fever in a case where the disease spread across one of the state’s Idoma-speaking communities.
“Our main difficulty right now is electricity and power supply. We do not have enough lighting to run a large number of samples. For example, to analyze a sample and validate the results, you’ll need four to five hours of continuous electricity. Because if you start the test and the power supply goes out, you will have to start over,” Prof. Kortor explained.
Prof. Kortor urged the administration to fix the power issue in order to provide higher-quality healthcare services.