An Assessment of the State of Maintenance of Public Hospital Buildings in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the state of maintenance of public hospitalbuildings in Southwest Nigeria, and in the process identifi es thesignifi cant difference(s) in the operational state of Federal andState-owned public hospitals within the study area. In achievingthe aim, the study adopts a survey technique with a total of552 questionnaires, comprising 206 sampled maintenancestaff and 346 users of public hospitals. The survey covers 46public hospitals representing 40% of the total number of publichospitals existing in Southwest Nigeria. The 46 public hospitalsconsist of all the 11 Federal-owned hospitals and 35 randomlyselected State-owned. Data collected are analysed using theKendall Coeffi cient of Concordance and Pearson Chisquare. Thefi ndings of the study reveal that the state of maintenance of publichospital buildings is good. While the structure/fabric and physicalconditions are rated highly, the services are poorly rated. Thisstudy, which hypothesises that there is no difference in the stateof maintenance, fi nds statistical difference in the performance ofthe services. It recommends that Federal and State governmentsaddress neglect in the services sector and plan their maintenanceprogrammes more effectively.