Sophia Michaels
The General Hospital in Odan, Lagos, still hasn’t replaced the elevator that led to the tragic death of House Officer Dr. Vwaere Diaso five months ago due to an accident.
The PUNCH reports that Diaso was killed after the elevator crashed from the 10th floor to the ground floor of the 131-year-old hospital.
A colleague of the deceased told The PUNCH correspondent when he visited the scene of the accident in August 2023 that the management of the hospital was aware of the poor state of the elevator.
“On multiple occasions, the elevator has stopped while we were inside. And there’s no maintenance,” he said.
Also, information from the panel set up by the state government to look into the tragedy revealed that the doctor did not die immediately after the crash but was trapped in the plunged and damaged elevator for an hour before being extracted and provided medical care.
The government further stated that it has sacked and blacklisted the facility managers and suspended the General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency, Adenike Adekanbi.
A few days after the doctor was buried, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced his visit to the hospital on his Instagram page, where he mentioned that speaking to the house officers present at the hospital and “they gave me an insight into their needs, and I gave my word that we have already got on it.”
Meanwhile, a visit by our correspondent to the 10-storied doctors’ residence, discovered that for five months, doctors in the residence had to take the stairs to their apartments because a new elevator was yet to be installed.
The PUNCH correspondent found out that the exit area to the lift was barricaded with a three-pieced black marine construction board.
A larger poster “Restricted area, construction site. No unauthorised access” alongside other words, numbers, and symbols pasted on the board.
When contacted, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, and the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health, Olusegun Ogboye, both insisted that the contract to replace the lift and renovate the building had been awarded to the contractors.
But no sign of renovation or billboards proposing the beginning of renovation on the premises could be seen at the time our correspondent visited the place.
