For owing N 95 , 000 hospital bill , a nursing mother , Blessing Bassey and her baby have been sleeping on the floor of one of the wards of Mojol Hospital, Church Street , in the Shasha area of Lagos State , for seven mont.
the hospital management ordered nurses and doctors to ensure that Blessing and her daughter did not leave the hospital premises .
Our correspondent , during a visit to the hospital, observed the 27 - year - old and her child sleeping on the floor .
Blessing , who bemoaned her fate , said efforts by her husband to raise the money had been abortive .
The Cross River State indigene explained that her husband , a mechanic, tried to do menial jobs to raise the funds , but failed.
While recalling how she got to the hospital , Blessing said she was unconscious on March 6 , 2020 , when she was rushed to a medical facility where she was initially registered.
She said , “ I was seven months ’ pregnant that time . I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital I registered with , but they did not have equipment for a caesarean section , so I was referred to Mojol Hospital. I was rushed to the hospital that same night and a CS was performed to save my life and the baby .
“ Some days after the CS was done , I was told that our bill was N 300, 000; we paid N 100, 000 out of it .
“ After paying , the owner of the hospital said the bill was N 350, 000. One of our neighbours came to beg her to reduce the money , and she reduced it to N 250, 000.
“ We were able to pay a total of N 155, 000 and begged her to allow me to go and work so we could pay the balance by instalments , but she refused . I have been in the hospital since then .
“ I had not spent one month on the hospital bed after the CS when I was told to move to the floor . I had to spread my wrapper on the floor so that my baby and I could sleep and that ’ s where we have been sleeping for the past seven months.
“ I don’ t have any money on me. I begged people that come to visit other patients for money to feed myself and the baby . ”
The Administrative Officer of the hospital , Salami Akindayo , told PUNCH Metro that similar patients released with the hope of getting paid by instalments defaulted .
He said , “ She was rushed to our hospital on emergency and we tried to save her life before even asking for money . After the delivery was done , she was unconscious for five days before eventually coming round. And when she was given the bill, the MD had to reduce it so that they could pay .
“ We have released patients who promised to pay , but they never did. So, we decided that any patient that didn ’ t pay the hospital bill won ’ t be discharged . The hospital has written letters to some organisations to ask if they could assist her ; we ’ re still waiting for their response . I have presented her matter to the Ohaneze group and they promised to get back to us . ”
A rights activist , Esther Ogwu , who condemned the action of the hospital , stated that money was being contributed for Blessing ’ s release .
“ What the hospital should have done was make her sign an undertaking to pay the balance , ” she added .
Punchng.com
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