The Yahe Lutheran hospital is located in Yahe, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State South Nigeria. It situates along the Ogoja Abakaliki road.
This hospital as the name implies was established by the Lutheran Church of Nigeria in collaboration with their foreign counterparts. Its establishment dates back to the seventies and beyond. It provides and has been providing the much needed health services to the entire Yahe and its environs. Until health care facilities improved in neighbouring Ebonyi State, this hospital served all communities between Yahe and Abakaliki the capital of Ebonyi State. The Immanuel Medical Centre as it was called back then was an establishment of the Lutheran mission and purely run by them. I remember back then as a child I saw that most of the medical personnel were whites; non Nigerians.
However, the government of Cross River State became interested in taking over the hospital as well as the responsibility of providing health care for its people, which is one of government's statutory responsibilities. This led to the entire business being run now as a joint venture between the Cross River State government and the Lutheran mission.
A recent visit to this hospital recently brought back memories of my childhood days as this place was where I got my medical issues resolved. This place has been the hospital that medically took care my parents till dad passed on a few years back. This same institution continues to provide this essential service to mum to date. Today, the dilapidating state of the hospital to me is a cause of concern. Take a close look at the picture. This is what greets your eyes as you approach the main entrance to the hospital. The signboard is almost submerged in the tall grasses growing wild around the entire environment. The buildings remain the way there have been all these decades of its existence. The question that hits my mind is whose responsibility is it to sanitize this all important medical centre. Should it be borne solely by government agencies or the church owners. However the services rendered by the doctors and serving nurses in the hospital is still commendable but the environment honestly does not look it at all. This institution has served us for decades and we can still make it serve us even better for centuries for generations yet unborn.
In view of the role the hospital plays and the services it renders to the people, it behoves on the community to put in some extra effort by mobilizing labour to site to make this institution worthy of the name it bears. After all, how many of this type of institution do we have in Yahe? Why can we not take good care of the one we have. We can do something for ourselves rather than rely all the time on the benevolence of government.
The administration of the hospital too needs to sit up and provide better leadership that will help bring back the glories of this hospital. The workers of the hospital really needs to sit up especially the unskilled labourers. Some wards are actually in the bush with grasses as tall as almost the roof level. Mosquitoes have taken over a place they should really have no place.
To make this place to really resume its pride of place, all hands must be on deck. All stake holders must have to wake from slumber, put in some much needed effort, give the structure some touch of hope, repair dilapidated structures. All staff must be dedicated to their duties to give back the glories the hospital seem to have lost. More grease to your elbows and God's abundant blessings be yours as you do this.
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