chargement...
Health workers in Marrakech are overwhelmed. On Monday, doctors and nurses from the Ibn Zohr hospital, observed a sit-in in front of the emergency room to denounce the situation of the facility and call the Health Ministry for action.
Their demands were quickly heard by the ministry, which sent a ministerial commission, Tuesday, to Marrakech to inquire about the situation in the hospital.
Last week, the Association of Doctors of Marrakech (Al Moqim) denounced, in a press release, the fact that several infections have been confirmed among medical workers.
A cry of distress which was confirmed by an audio recording of a doctor and a resuscitation specialist at Ibn Zohr, denouncing the lack of means and the alarming rising number of deaths recorded among patients admitted to the facility.
A management problem
«It's an audio recording sent to the WhatsApp group of CHR doctors, previously created by the former director for coordination and communication. I know the doctor and the resuscitation specialist», said Imad Soussou, vice-president of a doctors’ union at the Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech, on Tuesday, confirming that said doctor is a member of said union. «The doctor cried because her patients died in the corridors of the hospital, yet she has a 20-year career and knows how to handle tragedies», he said.
As for the current situation, which caused a «lack of wall-mounted oxygen sources» for a large number of patients, the trade unionist recalled that «historically speaking, the Ibn Zohr hospital (formerly Mauchamp, built in 1913 and called El Mamounia by locals) is not a CHR».
«Marrakech is paying the price now, compared to other cities, because the CHR was originally the Ibn Tofail hospital (known in Marrakech as a civilian hospital and built in 1938) and Ibn Zohr is just a provincial hospital», he explained. Thus, when Marrakech had its university hospital center and instead of «handing over the Ibn Tofail hospital to the regional health delegation, it was transferred to the CHU».
«The Marrakech region had therefore lost its CHR which offers level 2 care. As a result, we currently have level 1 and 3 care only», he explained.
Ibn Zohr hospital overwhelmed by high demand and lack of resources
For the trade unionist, Ibn Zohr was thus transformed into a CHR, «without however meeting the needed criteria». «The building is very old and cannot withstand high demand even in normal times. Currently, it is the only hospital carrying out Covid consultations in Marrakech», he regretted.
«Everyone turns to this hospital : those who want to be tested, those who want to have a consultation because they have symptoms, and those sent by clinics.The last straw is that Ibn Zohr hospital also welcomes non-Covid patients and offers so-called normal consultations».
Moreover, the hospital is facing the fight against the coronavirus, without a director. «First, the provincial delegate was removed from his post by the ministry and his post is temporarily occupied by the regional director of health. A second director who came to replace the first one resigned, and so did the third one», Imad Soussou added.
An internal doctor at the Marrakech University Hospital told Yabiladi that the center «only deals with the hospitalization of Covid patients with two intensive care units at the Errazi hospital and three at Ibn Tofail». «The CHU does not do the Covid consultation and you have to wait for its approval for the CHR to transfer patients to it according to the available places», he explains.
Thus, apart from people wishing to travel abroad and having to do a PCR test, «the rest of the population is directed towards Ibn Zohr, which is already struggling», the same doctor warned.
As for the commission expected in Marrakech, this doctor says he has «experience» with this kind of missions. «They write reports. Heads may fall but the problem will not be solved», he regretted. «The people who are managing this crisis are not aware of what is happening on the ground», he added.
Yabiladi has repeatedly tried to reach the Regional Director of Health in Marrakech, Lamia Chakiri, as well as Professor Lahcen Boukhanni, director of the Marrakech University Hospital, in vain.
