By Richmond B Tholley
Residents from catchment villages attending the Mabai Community Health Post in Kholifa Mabang Chiefdom, Tonkolili District, have expressed dissatisfaction over the filthiness of the center which they say is hazardous to the health and safety of community members especially lactating mothers, their children and pregnant women.
The hospital which was established to save lives residents said in an interview with this reporter on Tuesday, December 10th 2024 has turned out to be the most unclean Health Center around the District of Tonkolili.
A hospital labour room, also known as a delivery suite or birthing unit, is a specialized area where pregnant women give birth and receive care before and after delivery. Labor rooms are usually located near the obstetric department and NICU, and are often divided into three zones: unsterile, protective, and delivery.
Many labour rooms have easy chairs, bean bags, and mats to help you move around and change positions. Some rooms also have baths, showers, or birthing pools.
But at Mabai Health Center, the labour room is not properly taken care of and pregnant women complained about a smelly odour in the room which causes distress throughout the delivery process.
“This is really sad and our lives are being risky. The labour room is disgustingly dirty,” a pregnant woman in the community who does not want to be named said.
In the multiple interviews conducted, pregnant women and residents are concerned about the filthiness of the labour room.
The unfortunate event the resident said has become unbearable especially when there seems to be no effort to change the status of the Health Center.
Immediately after the interview, this reporter visited the Health Center and found out the hospital is in a dilapidated state and needs urgent repairs.
The building has been damaged in many areas but the head of the Health Center do not seem to care about maintenance, according to residents.
According to investigation, the District Health Management Team of Tonkolili has been giving out incentives for the maintenance of Health Centers across the District, but it’s still unclear why the Mabai Community Health Center remains dirty and no plan is being made to remedy the problem.
“With all the monies allocated by DHMT for the maintenance of the Center, we’re surprised to see our hospital in such a messy state,” Aminata Bangura, a pregnant woman in the community stated.
DHMT is not immediately available to confirm whether it has been allocating funds for the maintenance of the hospital.
According to another source, the current In-Charge of the Center took along with a number of her children and grandchildren when she was transferred to the Center a few years ago. The said children and grandchildren of the current In-Charge have reportedly damaged the building.
During our investigation, we also discovered that there’s an ongoing conflict between the In-Charge and her only Staff. This conflict, though some officials from the DHMT have intervened is hampering the running of the Hospital.
Patients, lactating mothers and pregnant women said the conflict has affected them. This is because the ongoing conflict between the two Health workers have spilled over effect to residents whenever they go to the hospital.
“The situation at the Centre is currently disgusting. The place is dirty and there’s no semblance of a Health Center. We’re therefore calling on the DHMT, Tonkolili District Council, Ministry of Health to intervene or the community will continue to surfer,” Mohamed Sankoh, a Youth Leader said.
This is a developing story and we will continue to update the public on its development.
