The management of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Bida, Niger State, says it has paid outstanding death benefits to the families of 32 deceased personnel.
The medical director (MD) of the hospital, Dr Usman Abubakar, stated this in an interview in Bida yesterday.
Abubakar, said that the figure was out of the backlog of 42 such benefits inherited from his predecessors.
The MD said that efforts were ongoing to pay the benefits to families of the remaining 10 deceased personnel.
“One touching case was that of our staff who died and as we were to pay the benefit, we discovered that the next-of-kin had also died. We had to trace the mother to the their village and gave her the entitlement for the deceased staff.”
Abubakar said the gesture was part of his sustained efforts to shore up the provision of welfare packages to the staff of the hospital.
He maintained that the management was not owing the staff any allowance, and had also started the payment of uniform allowance as well as working towards clearing the backlog inherited.
The MD added that he also introduced rural allowances to the staff in the centre’s cottage hospitals in Lambata and Zungeru.