Patients admitted at the Yei Civil Hospital have decried the lack of electricity at the referral facility saying it negatively impacts the administration of medicine to in-patients at night.
Attendants and in-patients told Radio Tamazuj that they use phone torches for lighting at night to help nurses and other health workers dispense medication and healthcare. They appealed to the government and development partners to prioritize the provision of round-the-clock electricity at the hospital.
Kiden Hellen, a patient recuperating from malaria, said it was difficult to move around the facility at night.
“I have been here for some days now without light but I have been depending on my phone to provide light and once it is not charged, I face challenges because I came from the village thinking that there is electricity in the hospital but it’s hard at night,” Kiden said. “If my voice can be heard, I am calling on the government and NGOs to ensure that there is a reliable and constant power supply in the medical wards and other parts of the hospital.”
Edina Jackon, another patient admitted to the hospital due to abdominal complications, said life is difficult at night due to lack of electricity.
“We have been sleeping in darkness and if you don’t have a torch, you will suffer in the darkness. If the government can listen to the voices of the patients, we want to see that the hospital has constant electricity,” Jackson said.
For his part, Dr. Joseph Malish, the medical director at the Yei Civil Hospital, said the facility has a solar power system but that it does not generate enough electricity at night, especially during the rainy season.
“We have one generator to run the hospital and it is also costly to maintain and that is why it is putting us into a difficult situation to provide medical services in some of the wards within the hospital. Solar is not sustainable and we also have technical challenges. It is on and off, that is why some of the wards are completely dark,” Dr. Malish said.
He added that health partners are working together with the hospital administration to ensure that the hospital has constant electricity in all the wards, especially at night.
Justoson Victor, a local civil society activist in Yei, urged the government and health workers to ensure a sustainable power supply within the health facility because it is the only referral hospital in the area and has a blood bank.
“Many people are referred to this hospital and it is where medical surgery is done as well as the storage of vaccines and blood. The Yei local government needs to work together with the national government to see that a sustainable solution is developed to address the challenges of electricity in the Yei Civil Hospital,” Victor said.