Cross River suspends hospital vendor over ‘failure to remit 15-month revenue’

The Cross River government has suspended the vendor running the pharmacy unit of the general hospital in the state over the non-remittance of revenue.

Henry Ayuk, the commissioner for health, ordered the suspension of the vendor during an unscheduled visit to the hospital on Tuesday.

He noted that the pharmacy operator has not remitted revenue to the government coffer for the past 15 months.

Ayuk also said the pharmacy lacked qualified personnel, describing the unit as a “quack shop” laden with sharp practices.

“The people managing the pharmacy are not qualified, they do not have any background in pharmacy, so we do not know why they are here,” NAN quoted the commissioner as saying.

“As far as I am concerned, that place is a quack shop, because it does not have the required personnel.

“How do you ensure quality assurance when you do not even have pharmacy technicians, which is a minimum requirement for such services?

“Accordingly, I have asked the vendor to see us so we can review the Memorandum of Understanding they entered with the government, in order to truly ascertain what the government expects of them.”

Ayuk said while investigations are ongoing, the services of the pharmacy will be suspended.

He directed the hospital medical superintendent, accountants, pharmacists and laboratory attendants to ensure accountability in their operations to block revenue leakages.

“We have also asked that they come to the office for their agreement to be looked into. We want to see exactly what value they are bringing to the hospital that guarantees the 15 percent they receive.

“So all those things will be reviewed for us to come out with a more effective plan. Our emphasis is that the health sector must render services that are reminiscent of the Gov. Bassey Otu-led administration’s ‘People First’ agenda.

“We want people to be conscious of the fact that there is a government that gives premium attention to their health.

“But we must fight against leakages that impede our desire to bring healthcare services to the ordinary man in the society”.