Beni Suef Chest Hospital is surrounded by sewage water and a large number of stray dogs roam its vicinity amid complete disregard by officials, say patients at the hospital.
The Health Directorate in Beni Suef had selected the hospital, which was established in 1963, to receive cases of H1N1, also known as swine flu. The second floor was allocated for cases of men infected by the virus, and the third for women.
Patients said the availability of beds has been affected since 15 of the 150 beds at the hospital were set aside for H1N1 cases. The hospital is also in need of more doctors because there are currently only 13 working there, they said.
The hospital gate is falling down and sewage water surrounds wards in all directions, not to mention wild dogs straying across the hospital premises, patients complained.
Meanwhile, Gamal Azouz, member of the city’s council, presented an interpolation to the council demanding that the citizens and patients’ grievances be investigated. He said that officials should be brought to account for their failure to address the recent crisis which is threatening patients’ lives.
Sewage water "gushed out" in front of the hospital, leaving a bad odor that reached patients at the hospital, according to various accounts. Relatives have asked for the patients’ waste to be treated in clean places, Azouz said. He added that a wide, grassy space in the hospital that is not used has become a shelter for reptiles and stray dogs.
Mohamed Abdel Latif, a teacher and a resident of the area, said the hospital building on the side of its kitchen, used to hang out washing, was in a state of decay. He warned that the building was liable to collapse due to the sewage water.
Abdel Aleem Fathi, a patient at the hospital, said that a bad odor is present everywhere in the hospital.
Dr. Sa’d Hussein, the hospital director, stated that the gate was now being restored, given that it had been built in 1963. The hospital is undergoing renovations under the supervision of the Housing Directorate and Health Ministry, he said, adding that restoration operations would take three years. "We have asked the city council to remove the grass in the wards’ back yards and to clean them up," he said. According to Hussein, there is also now a contractor in charge of repairing the sewage system around the hospital.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
