Dominic Ukpong, Akwa Ibom commissioner for health, said on Friday, January 26, 2018, that two hospitals had been sealed up for malpractices.
Ukpong said in an e-mailed statement to The Trent, on Friday, January 25, 2018, “I have shut down two hospitals for malpractices. We inspected them and found that they do not conform to hospital standards.
“We have shut them down and we are not going to re-open them again.”
He refused to give the names of the hospitals but only said that one of them was owned by someone from a neighbouring state.
He added that the ministry had sacked one medical doctor for allegedly stealing beds, while some health practitioners were also sanctioned for negligence in their duties.
“I caught some health workers either sleeping on duty or careless about their patients.
“Those who were negligent in their duties, I have moved them to my office.
“They cannot practice their profession again,” he explained.
Ukpong said that the Ministry conducts regular checks to identify negligent health workers.
According to him, the state government has commenced the construction of a state-owned hospital at Itu-Mbang in Uyo, which would be inaugurated in May.
“We are constructing a state-owned hospital at Itu-Mbang. We don’t have a state-owned hospital in Uyo, the state capital,” he stated.
The commissioner said that the state government also planned to build quarters for doctors and house officers.
