New Bell CMA still closed

The Centre médical d’arrondissement (Cma) of Douala II has been closed for several days preventing nurses and doctors from going about their usual duties due to mismanagement of funds.

Patients are forced to travel to other hospitals to undergo treatment. Josiane S., a disappointed patient moved to Cma de Congo to continue her treatment upon noticing the hospital was closed when she visited.

Josiane is not the only woman to have encountered such a difficult situation.

Several others have also expressed their disappointments.

An official of the municipality who met with CT explained that many management errors were identified by the Ministry of Finance during a routine check.

The receipts used by Cma not from the public purse, which does not always allow traceability of funds.

A call to order was made at the last council meeting. A management committee was then set up as proposed by the Chief Medical Officer. Despite all these, there were still many issues of fundraising.

According to the official of the municipality, “the staff was recruited without the instruction from the executives and we have seen significant declines in revenue”.

These are the reasons the Mayor, Denise Fampou decided to put the doctor to work just like the town hall staff while awaiting investigation.

The district health chief of New Bell, Dr. Felix Fotso Simo said, “until last January, everything was going well till mismanagement was discovered. I attempted a resolution, but nothing worked. The situation remains tense at the expense of patients”, he said.

He said municipal health institutions should be to the benefit of the people.