The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Rivers State says it has stopped the salaries of 1,000 workers following a recently concluded audit of its staff.

The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Chituru Orluwene, disclosed this at a news briefing on Monday to mark his first 100 days in office.

While noting that when he resumed office as the 8th CMD, the hospital did not have a nominal roll, Orluwene revealed that over 4,000 staff members were on the payroll, adding that after a quick check, only 2,000 workers were physically present.

The UPTH CMD explained that the development necessitated a verification exercise, pointing out that after the exercise, 2,000 workers could not be verified.

He noted that the report had been submitted to the hospital management, while the salaries of 1,000 of them had been stopped.

“When we resumed, we found 4,000 staff on the payroll, but 2,000 of them were on the ground. Following this, we initiated a verification exercise, a process that will also help us get a nominal roll for the hospital, because when we resumed, we did not meet a normal roll.

“We have recovered a lot, but the evil effect of having many people who are not working is an issue. We have stopped the salaries of over 1,000 people. When this report gets to the FG, they will have to employ people who are ready to work,” he disclosed.

Prof. Orluwene further said his administration had blocked revenue leakages in the system in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, adding that he had ordered a downward review of hospital and mortuary bills.

He commended Tinubu and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mohammed Pate, for making his appointment possible, promising an open-door administration in the institution.

He noted that the hospital under his watch has introduced in-patient feeding, adding that a patient would be charged N5,000 for three meals daily.

The CMD further said the management is working to tackle all forms of corruption among workers, adding that it has stopped the activities of those who receive money into their private accounts using Point of Sale machines in the hospital.

On complaints about the prevalence of mosquitoes in the hospital, the UPTH CMD said action had already been taken and results achieved.

According to him, “I am not here for rhetoric, but for work. From the 1st of January, when we resumed, you could even see mosquitoes in your office. The problem is not how we handle the surface.

“Once you have a dirty environment, underground water and stagnant waters, mosquitoes must disturb. So I got a consultant as we came in. He entered the underground of the hospital; they found broken pipes.

“They drained the whole soakaway pits. They removed about 40 trucks. All the soakaway pits were filled. When they finished it, the mosquitoes reduced.” (The PUNCH)

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