Water Scarcity Hits Lagos State University Hospital, LASUTH As Patients Groan

It has been reported that the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has been confronted with water crisis in recent times.

According to Premium Times, relatives of patients and sanitation workers at the paediatric ward of the hospital have continued to lament over the situation.

The situation, it is understood, has left the hospital environment in an unhygienic condition as cleaners are also facing the same dilemma.

The report said since February 22, the Mainland Independent Power Project (IPP) that supplies electricity to the hospital has not supplied power.

The hospital management said the excuse given by the power company is lack of gas to power its turbines.

It said it had resorted to using power generators to supply power to the hospital but that due to low capacity, it decided to ration power.

The situation is said to be worse in the paediatric ward of the hospital. A source said this is due to the fact that the connection at the ward has been bad for quite some time.

Esther Adebambo, a mother at the paediatric ward of the hospital, has been at the facility with her 13-year-old boy, who was diagnosed with meningitis since June last year.

She also decried the situation.

“I have been going from the third floor to fetch water at the morgue building since the blackout. No fan and no ventilation,” she said.

“Other parents who are in the same ward with me also prepare themselves ahead to fetch water- some in the evening while some very early in the morning to bathe themselves.”

Also affected is Fareedah Onasanya, who gave birth to a girl exactly on February 21, 2022.

Her baby has been on admission to the hospital for a condition called spina bifida- a birth defect that occurs when the bones in a baby’s spine do not fully form during early pregnancy.

Onasanya said the pathetic situation at the hospital has made people to start using sachet water since the water stopped running.

"We were using sachet water before someone showed us where to fetch water at the mortuary. “It has not been easy going up and down to get water but we have no choice as long as we remain here and until they fix the light," she added.

Onasanya’s mother described the experience as agonising, saying; “It’s saddening, a nurse had to tell me to stop when they saw me fetching water, because my daughter just gave birth and the stress has just been too much for her.

The hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Adetokunbo Fabamwo, confirmed the development in a statement.

He noted that the power supply from the Mainland Independent Power Project (IPP), source of the hospital’s electricity, has been off since February 22, 2022.

“In the recent past, the supply from this company has been epileptic,” he said, adding that; “The reason usually given is lack of gas supply to power its turbines," he said.

Fabamwo also said only the hospital’s service areas have continued to be powered by generators since the outage, and that due to the limited capacity of the generators, the power had to be rationed.

“As we speak, there is still no supply from IPP and our information is that there will be none until Monday, February 28, 2022,” he added.