By Nahum Sule, Jalingo
As the Taraba State Government announced the temporary closure of the Specialist Hospital Jalingo, medical experts expressed fear of losing lives.
The hospital has been undergoing a series of renovations since last year, and the government demanded that patients be disengaged to get the work done in time.
This decision, according to Medical experts is not wise, as certain hospital cases can not withstand service disruption.
While speaking to our Correspondent, who visited the hospital, they explained that for patients who are on dialysis, emergency obstetric cases, severe trauma victims, critically ill children, cardiac patients, and individuals on oxygen or intensive monitoring, continuity of care is not optional, but it is lifesaving.
They noted that various hospitals across the country undergo phased renovations, allowing critical departments to remain operational while construction continues in other sections.
According to them, such an approach minimises risk, protects vulnerable patients, and balances infrastructure development with urgent healthcare needs.
It is worth noting that contrary to speculation that the hospital was shut down due to the elapsed tenure of the Chief Medical Director, Dr Alex Maiangwa.
Our Correspondent was at the facility to assess the situation on the ground and its potential implications for patients whose lives depend on continuous medical care.
What he encountered was disturbing, as across several wards, patients were still receiving treatment, many of them in critical condition, while at the dialysis unit, chronic kidney patients were visibly stranded.
These are patients who require regular dialysis to stay alive. With reports that dialysis machines at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jalingo are currently not functioning optimally, a total shutdown of the Specialist Hospital raises fears of multiple avoidable deaths.
Dialysis is not a service that can be paused; without consistent operation, machines may malfunction or become unusable, while patients deteriorate rapidly.
In the maternity and medical wards, treatment was ongoing, while in one ward, he observed an elderly woman in her seventies undergoing a blood transfusion.
For patients in such conditions, abrupt closure of a hospital is effectively a death sentence, as interruptions in care can lead to severe complications or fatal outcomes.
While renovation work is ongoing at the facility, health advocates argued that a total closure poses unbearable risks and potential loss of lives.
From observations on the ground, it is evident that the Specialist Hospital Jalingo remains a lifeline for many residents of Taraba State.
Advisebly, any decision affecting its operations must carefully consider the immediate human cost. Rather than a blanket shutdown, a sectional or phased approach to renovation could preserve lives while improvement works continue.
