GBARNGA – Phebe Hospital in Suakoko, Bong County has temporarily closed after three nurses tested positive for COVID-19.

This is a drastic protective measure and is likely to continue, Dr. Jefferson Sibley, Medical Director of the hospital told FrontPageAfrica.

“The decision as to whether or not to close the hospital would be very dependent on the prevailing circumstances and would only be taken as a last resort based on concerns about staff and patients’ safety and after consultations with relevant authorities.”

Dr. Jefferson Sibley, Medical Director, Phebe Hospital

Dr. Sibley, medical director of Phebe Hospital, said the latest cases had no associations to the over 46 contacts linked to the first three cases

Dr. Sibley said staff members who are deemed a risk have been told to isolate themselves as a precaution.

“The decision as to whether or not to close the hospital would be very dependent on the prevailing circumstances and would only be taken as a last resort based on concerns about staff and patients’ safety and after consultations with relevant authorities,” Dr. Sibley said.

Phebe Hospital is the only referral hospital in central Liberia.

The temporary closure of the hospital is expected to affect many residents, particularly those in rural parts of Bong County.

On Friday, several patients were turned away by the hospital as a means of precaution.

Bong County has recorded five confirmed cases of COVID-19, with three confirmed deaths.

GBARNGA, Bong – As Bong County records it second COVID-19 death, a member of Motivate A Girl, Linda Mulbah, has called on residents of the county to provide material and financial support to the county’s health team.

Motivate A Girl is a non-profit organization founded in July 2015 to help improve the lives of less fortunate children, women, and girls reach their full potentials. The group also promotes education, healthcare services, peace and security, human rights advocacy.

Mulbah stated that citizens’ support to the county health team is vital to curtailing the further spread of the coronavirus in Bong.

“We as citizens of Bong County must contribute the little we have to help the health team put in place the necessary measure to stop the virus from spreading,” Mulbah said.

Bong’s health officer, Adolphus Yeiah, says the local county health team needs beddings, furniture, food items, and disinfectants and other materials to operate an isolation center for COVID-19 cases in the county.

“We are appealing to residents of the county to kindly support the county health team with whatever little they have that can help in the fight against this virus that has entered our county,” Dr. Yeiah pleaded with the public in an interview with a local radio station.

Mulbah asserted that while it was government’s responsibility to equip county health teams across the country to combat the Coronavirus; it however, requires the collective efforts of all Liberians.

She was speaking when Motivate A Girl over the weekend embarked on Coronavirus sensitization and material distribution campaign in Gbarnga as part of modalities to augment the efforts of the county health team.

Motivate A Girl presented disinfectants, sanitary pads, and nose masks to the C. B. Dumbar maternity Hospital and the Rainbow Town Orphanage Home in Gbarnga.

“This is the little that we have to contribute to this fight. Please take this and use it for the purpose intended as we join the fight to get rid of this virus,” Mulbah said.

Two administrators of the hospital and the orphanage home appreciated Motivate A Girl, particularly joining the county health team to create awareness in communities in Bong about COVID-19.

C.B. Dunbar Hospital’s Isaac Bannie, and Rainbow Town Orphanage Home’s John Cooper also hailed the group for the donation and encouraged other people in the county to do same.

Suakoko, Bong County – Over the past 24 months, the Phebe Hospital located in Suakoko, Bong County, a privately run facility which continues to receive budgetary support from the Government making up to 80% percent of its budget, has been in the limelight over reports of the lack of sufficient fuel to run its generator for the proper operation of the hospital’s facilities.

 Over the period, there have been cries of corruption and mismanagement of the facilities and lack of transparency for funds being provided by the Government and other donors; which has resulted in the inability of the hospital to maintain electricity by running generators to enable it to provide basic medical services to patients. 

This situation continues to deteriorate to the point where patients are being forced to purchase fuel before generators are turned on for doctors to perform major surgeries or even provide delivery services for pregnant women.

 Against the backdrop of many issues being faced by the hospital, there are widespread suspicions of chronic administrative and financial mismanagement, which could be the bedrock of the problems being faced by the facility.

Though this situation continues to be spoken about in many quarters; the earlier suspicions of mismanagement could not be verified. But a damning audit report in the possession of FrontPageAfrica has brought some clarity to the situation. 

The report indicates massive corruption, including payroll padding, breach of financial and other rules in the running of the affairs of the hospital.

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) in an internal review and audit concluded on the operations of the Phebe Hospital and School of Nursing for fiscal periods from 2016 to 2019, revealed alarming fiscal and administrative discrepancies to the total of US$101, 22.30 for United States Dollars payroll and LRD 23,203,147.72 for Liberian Dollars payroll in some instances.

According to the IAA report, these discrepancies were because of differences in the payroll submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the payroll paid by the hospital. Section 1.1.2 of the audit report revealed that the management of the Phebe Hospital and School of Nursing prepares and submits two payrolls (the United States Dollars Incentive Payroll and Librarian Dollars payroll) to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning monthly; and yet has a separate payroll that is paid; with some personnel being paid under all three payroll and others only on one payroll.

 As per GOL procedures, the MFDP processes the payrolls and draws checks net of Income Taxes and payroll comprising of a Regular Incentive payroll, Liberian Dollars Payroll submitted to MFDP resulting in said discrepancies.

 According to the audit, the IAA didn’t find any documented authorization allowing Phebe to reallocate these payroll funds to other expenditures or other personnel-related activities.

 The audit and internal review engagement were commissioned by the Ministry of Health, due to alleged irregularities on the payrolls of the Hospital and School of Nursing.

 In July 2019, the hospital’s medical director, Dr. Jefferson Sibley, suspended four of its employees – the administrator, Kerson Saykor, Resource Manager, Jonathan Pewu, chief financial officer, Patrick Jackson and senior accountant, Jonathan Akoi on alleged acts of corruption, as the report was not made public.

 Representative Marvin Cole, Bong’s District#3 lawmaker alleged that the four Phebe Hospital employees were reportedly involved in payroll padding, threatening to halt every budgetary allotment to the hospital. Representative Cole at the time said, “If the four individuals in question are not dismissed by the hospital I will ensure that the hospital doesn’t get any financial allotment from the government.”

 The lawmaker said it was disheartening to know that some officials of the hospital were bent on exploiting employees while nurses and other junior staff suffer.

Phebe Hospital is a private hospital, which has continued to receive funding from the government. During the tenure of then-Senator Taylor, who represented Bong County on the Ways and Means Committee of the Liberian Senate, the budget in 2006 went from 50,000.00 thousand US dollars to more than 2 million United States Dollars. She and other Bong Legislators fought to secure funds for Phebe. Though these funds were provided through annual budgetary allotments, rumors of corruption and mismanagement were common.

 VP Taylor ‘not to blame for Phebe nightmare’

 Recently, calls have been made for the current Vice President, Madam Jewel Howard Taylor, a daughter of Bong County to intervene. The calls were consistent to the point where it was seen by some, that she no longer cares. 

So much so that a FrontPageAfrica representative reached out to the Vice President to ascertain why she was being silent on such a major issue; as opposed to her swift intervention to provide fuel for Cuttington University in their time of need.

 The Vice President assured FPA that she had been in touch with Ministry of Health officials to ascertain what the issues were; especially because Phebe received more than 80 percent of its budgetary allocation from GOL; and that over the past 6 or so years – Phebe had requested and received 2 fully functioning manufacturing facilities – to produce oxygen and Drip Solutions. 

The VP said she was concerned about why these two facilities were not being fully utilized; which would bring in additional sources of income for the facilities and provide local support to other hospital facilities.

As the Government sought final solutions for this problem; Senior Officials of Government met with some members of the Board. The opinion of the GOL officials after considering all options preferred a solution to the Board; that an MOU is signed between Government and Phebe Hospital, allowing the government through the Ministry of Health to run the facilities. 

This suggestion seemed not to go down well with the Board, who thought that the Government should just continue to provide support. But the officials of Government restated that the issues at Phebe were more than the issue of lack of fuel; and that in fact, the situation was a result of gross mismanagement at all levels. 

At the end of this meeting, it was agreed that the Board would consider the MOU and get back to Government.

 .

 Concluding, Vice President Taylor said she would never sit and allow Phebe to go into crisis without any intervention; but that the situation was more systematic than just lack of fuel to a Private facility. And that to get the facility out of the constant crisis, during which Government is always blamed; a new way forward in total must be embraced.

 Corruption still a menace in the public sector

Corruption is not a strange phenomenon in Liberia as successive governments have promised to fight the menace but falling to show real political will in curtailing what is known to be one of the many problems hindering the growth of the country.

The promise to fight corruption continues to be a good campaign tool for politicians with former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf coining some of the best phrases to describe corruption. During her inauguration in 2006, the Liberian former Liberian leader promised zero tolerance on corruption and few years in power she changed the message describing corruption as a Vampire eating up the fabric of the country.

In the end, after 12 years, President Sirleaf had no known record of a strong stance against corruption admitting that corruption was systematic and difficult to fight leaving her predecessor current President George M. Weah to use the message of fighting corruption to convince the Liberian people that there was a need for change from the Unity Party to a new breed of leaders.

President Sirleaf failed to act on numerous audit reports issued by the General Auditing Commission of Liberia and at some point during her tenure, the GAC became one of the most hated public institutions by public officials who saw the work of the commission as exposing their corrupt deals. 

As audit reports were exposing close associates to President Sirleaf of engaging in corruption, President Sirleaf could not hide her dislike for the exposure when she publicly declared that she did not like the mode of operations of the Auditor General at the time.

Although, just a little over two years in power but President Weah is also yet to show any strong commitment to fight corruption as his regime continues to be dragged in shady contracts award and other bogus deals. From awarding construction contracts to other contracts, the new regime is threading the path of President Sirleaf, according to many.

Suakoko, Bong County – Phebe hospital – one of the country’s biggest referral health institutions – is in dire straits as it is grappling with financial woes, a situation that is worsening the facility’s already dilapidated state.

Report by Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com

Apart from the financial crisis, the institution that is always riddled with water woes, has been forced to abort some surgical operations due to a critical shortage of painkillers.

The institution is reported to be asking patients to purchase their own painkillers such as paracetamol. 

As for the water crisis, maternity wards, the paediatric section, X-ray section, toilets have been the hardest hit.

Peeling floors characterize the shambolic state of the hospital. This kind of environment makes the hospital a safe haven for all sorts of bacteria. Efforts to get a comment from the hospital’s medical director, Dr. Jefferson Sibley, on the problems facing the hospital, proved futile as he would not comment.

Emailed questions had not been responded to by the time of going to print. 

Public hospitals in Liberia receive funding from Government, which is then complemented by collections made internally, which is usually inadequate.

The central hospital is said to be facing financial challenges and is saddled with an accumulative debt, which at the last reported reconciliation, was over $ 1million Liberia dollar.

Hospital officials say that the outstanding debt is making it difficult for the referral hospital to provide some basic services. 

The hospital, which serves hundreds of patients on a daily basis – mostly from the low-income bracket – is stuck between providing services to the poorest section of the population and enforcing a follow-up strategy on defaulting patients.

According to the Public Health Act, no-one is supposed to be turned away when they visit a public health centre to seek services due to non-payment. 

FrontPage Africa understands that although the hospital has devised ways of recovering debts by engaging debt collectors, not much is being recovered.

To add to these woes, many patients are by-passing the referral system, under the illusion that services at the institution are free of charge. This has resulted in the hospital making headlines countless times, usually for running out of drugs.

Hospital faces drugs shortage

The hospital is also facing a serious shortage of drugs, many of them essential drugs, and this is causing deep concern among patients and health workers.

According to sources, over 50 essential drugs are in short supply in the hospital. Some of these drugs are critical for patients suffering from diabetes, asthma and heart conditions, as well as expectant mothers.

Some doctors at the hospital confirmed to FrontPage Africa Monday that the shortages have affected the hospital.

“One day we may have stocks of a particular drug, but the next day we may run out and additional stocks may not come,” a doctor at the hospital told FrontPage Africa. “Today we might not have enough saline, but the following day we will have enough.”

In the past, the Phebe hospital would receive supplies for three months at a time, while today stocks last for a week or less, a doctor said at the hospital said.

A doctor at the hospital said the shortages began to be felt early this year, and that antibiotics and anesthetics are in particularly short supply. The hospital buys drugs locally at the patients’ request.

Phebe, Bong County – The Carter Center Liberia Mental Health Program has donated a vehicle worth over US$43,000 and several mental health books valued at over US$7,000 to the Phebe Nursing School in Bong County.

The donation is aimed at enhancing the effort of the nursing school in taking students for clinical trials in rural locations.

For the Phebe school administration, the donation came at the time it is most needed as it will mitigate the challenges facing the school.

The Chief Medical Officer at the Phebe Hospital, Jefferson Sibelia assured Carter Center that the donation would be used for its intended purpose.

“The vehicle is so important, the student will have to practice and they will need transportation, this was one of the challenges other cohort has been having. I’m so happy, these books are very important you can’t just easily find these books anywhere, having these hard copies is something important,” Sibelia said.

Sibelia added that the way he sees the program moving, if things continue, success is sure.

“We see some success, this is in the direction of improving our mental health system in the country and strengthening the institution,” he said.

The Carter Center Mental Health Program Lead Dr. Janice Cooper said, a basic training program in mental health adopted by Phebe School of Nursing is a wonderful opportunity for Carter Center.

“As we agreed to partner with JSI to support as much as we can, by conducting at least two cohorts basic training in mental health, we are trying to find the necessary funding to continue it,” Dr. Cooper said.

 “We bought some books that Phebe School of Nursing can use in its work; to me this is like my baby, anytime if I have, I have to help,” Dr. Cooper added.    

From 2010 through 2015, the Carter Center and its partners trained and graduated 187 mental health clinicians.

The Center’s partnership with Liberia’s Ministry of Health and the Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery also has resulted in an accreditation exam for graduating mental health clinicians.

These accredited clinicians now work throughout the country in all sectors of health service delivery, and at least one mental health clinician works in each of Liberia’s 15 counties.