GBARNGA, Bong – After experiencing several months of power shortages, the administration of the C. B. Dunbar Hospital has shut its doors to patients seeking medical attention at the Gbarnga hospital.

The hospital has been recently plagued by many challenges, including inadequate staffing, drug shortages, and irregular power supply.

The hospital’s medical director Obed Dolo said the challenges have grown worse, leaving the entity with no choice but to shut down operations. Dolo made the disclosure during a radio interview over the weekend.

“We still continue to experience this issue of power crisis,” he said. “Last night, the whole hospital was in complete darkness because the last generator we’ve been managing with — while we’re following our communication for help about the situation — finally gave up last night.”

“So the hospital has come to a complete ground, and so we are forced to come and tell the public that we will not be receiving new patients until this issue is resolved,” Dolo declared.

He acknowledged the problems patients in need of the facility would now face with a major hospital shut down. He suggested that patients make use of the nearby Phebe Hospital in Suakoko.

“Healthcare is so vital, and people need to have access,” he said. “But we have Phebe Hospital that can cater to those needs.”

Dolo said the recently damaged generator is the last of three generators the hospital had available for use. All three are now out of function.

“We had been managing with the last [generator], solving problems, replacing parts, and all of that. I can say now that it is completely depreciated,” he said.

Dolo clarified that patients currently admitted to the hospital will be catered to until their time of discharge. He said most of those patients had post-delivery complications or were being operated on.

“As I said, we are not taking in any new patients. Those of our patients who are there currently will be taken care of, until they are OK for discharge,” he clarified.

The C.B. Dunbar Hospital was established to provide maternal and neonatal health services to the people of Bong County. The hospital was previously run and operated by the French NGO Médecins du Monde. The facility was turned over to the government of Liberia in August 2015.

A previous version of this article misspelled the hospital’s medical director name. Featured photo by Arrington Ballah