The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, has raised alarm over the deteriorating state of healthcare services at the hospital, attributing the crisis to the prolonged failure of its step-down transformer and the delay in restoring electricity from the national grid.
Key Highlights
- DELSUTH has operated for over one month without stable electricity.
- ICU, NICU, dialysis services and new inpatient admissions remain suspended.
- Resident doctors warn delays are disrupting emergency care, medical training and hospital revenue.
- ARD urges Delta State Government, BEDC and contractors to fast-track transformer installation.
- Doctors describe electricity restoration as an urgent public health priority.
In a statement made available to journalists, the association disclosed that although a replacement transformer was delivered to the hospital on July 12, 2026, installation has commenced but remains incomplete, leaving the state’s only teaching hospital dependent on generators that provide electricity for only a few hours daily.
According to the association, the power outage has forced the hospital management to suspend new inpatient admissions, while admissions into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and dialysis services remain on hold.
The doctors explained that patients requiring admission or critical care are now being stabilised before referral to other health facilities due to the hospital’s limited operational capacity.
The association lamented that despite the suspension of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) industrial action, most wards remain largely empty because new admissions have been halted.
It added that clinical activities have been reduced mainly to outpatient consultations during the few hours electricity is available and emergency stabilisation before referral.
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ARD described the situation as unacceptable for a tertiary healthcare institution, warning that many critically ill patients require immediate specialist intervention rather than stabilisation and transfer.
According to the association, patients suffering from life-threatening obstetric haemorrhage, ruptured ectopic pregnancy, perforated bowel, severe trauma, obstructed labour and acute kidney failure requiring dialysis often need urgent definitive treatment, where every delay can significantly affect survival.
The doctors stressed that the prolonged infrastructure failure has prevented Delta State’s only teaching hospital from consistently providing essential tertiary healthcare services.
They further noted that the crisis has disrupted residency training, affected undergraduate medical education, reduced internally generated revenue and prevented healthcare professionals from fully utilising their expertise, while forcing patients to seek specialist care elsewhere at considerable financial and emotional cost.
While acknowledging the Delta State Government for procuring the replacement transformer and commencing installation, the association insisted that healthcare services would remain severely constrained until the transformer is fully installed, energised and connected to the national grid.
It described the restoration of electricity as no longer merely an engineering challenge but an urgent public health priority.
ARD therefore called on the Delta State Government, Hospital Management, the installation contractors, BEDC Electricity Plc and all relevant stakeholders to urgently complete the installation, energise the transformer and restore uninterrupted electricity supply to DELSUTH.
The association reaffirmed its commitment to constructive engagement with government and hospital management, stressing that Deltans deserve a fully functional teaching hospital capable of delivering quality specialist healthcare.
