…says elevator malfunction has been on for over 30 years
An informed person close to the management of the Lagos Island General Hospital says that one solution to the maintenance problem with the high-rise quarters, from which a medical intern lost her life on Tuesday, would be to sell, lease, or rent out the building. The hospital authority could then find serviceable alternative accommodations nearby for their doctors.
This, the person said, is because the challenge with the maintenance of the facility has been on for over 30 years.
A female medical intern, Vwaere Diaso, who was undergoing her housemanship in the Lagos Island General Hospital after six years of medical studies at Babcock University, was said to have been trapped in the elevator following a malfunction of the facility which plunged 10 floors down. She was on her way to the ground floor to pick up her dinner from a dispatch service when the accident occurred.
Reactions have since trailed the incident, even as the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered an investigation into the matter, asking that the investigation be “conducted with utmost transparency and fairness, leaving no room for any biases or favoritism”.
A medical doctor, who spoke to The Nigerian Observer on condition of anonymity, said he did his internship in the Lagos Island General Hospital in the 1980s and was lodged in the high-rise building.
The doctor said even as far back as that time, the elevator constantly malfunctioned and many residents preferred to sweat up and down the staircase, rather than risk getting stuck in the lift. He said residents and visitors regularly got stuck in the elevator for long, fearful periods.
The doctor further said that as an option, many doctors tried to get appointed to the lower floors from which they could more easily use the stairs rather than take the elevator.
He observed that if the authorities were unable to adequately service it for more than 30 years, there was no assurance that they would be able to service or sustain the servicing now.
In his view, it is better for the hospital authorities to find manageable alternative accommodations nearby for their medical interns and sell, lease or rent out the high-rise building at competitive rates and for profit.
He said the reason that the hospital has been unable to maintain the building and the elevator for decades could be that they were not generating sufficient funds from the hospital, which is a not-for-profit venture.
He further said that in that case, it might be more feasible to sell or let out the building since the cost of servicing it appears unaffordable for a not-for-profit hospital.
Meanwhile, reports from other sources say the elevator has been faulty since 2011 and that complaints about the state of the elevator had always fallen on deaf ears.
Olanrewaju Ayepola, tweeting via @kristeana08, said she was so angry over the death of Diaso because they had been complaining about the elevator for years.
“Even when I go visit my friend, more than two people can’t go in it and if it stops at the sixth floor, you have to use your hands to close it yourself. All she wanted to do was get her food from a dispatcher downstairs. It even took them an hour to get her out of the elevator,” Ayepola tweeted.
Lagos Island General Hospital is situated in Odan, Lagos Island, between Broad Street and the Marina in the Central Business District. It was established in 1893 by the British as a military hospital, and was the first of its kind in Nigeria.
