When the Godswill Akpabio administration conceived the Ibom Multispecialty Hospital in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, it was intended to check the perennial medical tourism in Nigeria and by extension plug the huge foreign exchange losses that result therefrom.
But concern rose when Governor Akpabio himself, who conceived the idea and committed a huge chunk of the state’s money into the project, jetted out of the country to seek medical attention following his involvement in an auto-crash shortly after he left office and was elected into the Nigerian Senate.
Today, one question that readily comes to mind is the extent to which the hospital has lived up to its raison d’etre 16 months after it opened its doors for operations.
The 308-bed international specialist hospital is an ultra-modern medical facility with six fully integrated modular theatres said to have cost Akwa Ibom State about N30 billion to establish.
It is equipped with 640 slides CT scan, digital mammography, endoscopy surgery, highly sophisticated intensive care units and medical gas plants. It runs on paperless and fully automated laboratories. It also has a helipad to facilitate easy emergency movements to and from the hospital. The entire hospital system is also hooked up to a global system for best practice.
During the launch of the hospital in May 2015, shortly before he exited office as governor, Akpabio had said that the hospital was of “world-class” standard, and higher in status than a teaching hospital in Nigeria.
“We lose billions of dollars every year to medical trips abroad. We have also lost a lot of people, not because we don’t have the expertise in the country. We needed a hospital that can run at international standard. I decided to build general hospitals in local governments that did not have and in areas that are very populated, even if the local government already had one. I found out that what we have here can go for a teaching hospital,” he said.
“We also decided to have a hospital that would answer to the needs of Nigerians in terms of advance health management and that was why we built the Ibom Specialist Hospital. It is not like a teaching hospital, it is like a quaternary hospital, it is higher than a teaching hospital,” he added.
“We also decided to have a hospital that would answer to the needs of Nigerians in terms of advance health management and that was why we built the Ibom Specialist Hospital. It is not like a teaching hospital, it is like a quaternary hospital, it is higher than a teaching hospital,” he added.
The former governor, who is now the minority leader in the Senate, was to be enmeshed in a web of controversy when, rather than patronise the multimillion Ibom hospital after his involvement in an auto-crash late 2015, travelled to the United Kingdom for medical attention.
Will the hospital reduce medical tourism?
With some feats said to have been recorded in the hospital according to sources, such as about 40 to 45 successful neurosurgeries, among others, the chief medical director, while explaining the extent to which the hospital is being tailored toward reducing medical tourism in the country, said: “Anybody going abroad is doing so because he or she wants to go abroad not because of medical care; people from other countries do come here for medical care, We are getting ready to start the open heart surgery. In cardiology, we are doing pacemakers and lots more.”
“Too costly,” indigenes say
One of the complaints that many indigenes of the state have is the bill, which they described as “beyond their reach.”
A retiree who spoke with BDSUNDAY on condition of anonymity said he spent all his active years in the service of the state without much to show for it, and that after his contributions to the development of the state he cannot afford the treatment in a hospital that was built by his state and with the wealth that belongs to every free born of the state.
“Some of us laboured and used our useful days to work for the good of this state, today; those who never labored for anything are presiding over the sharing formula. Today, with all I have done for this state, I cannot afford for a decent medical attention in that hospital,” said the man, who is in his 70s.
“It is for some class of people. It is for the super rich, many of whom cannot point at what they have done for the state,” he said.
Reminded that such a hospital needs a lot of money to keep running as it is not a charity home, the retiree retorted, “Who said it must be free? All I am saying is that certain categories of people, elder statesmen and women who toiled for the state, should be given some form of consideration.”
Hospital not for profit-making – CMD
Debunking the impression that the facility was built for certain categories of people – the moneybags – Adeyemi Johnson, a cardiologist and the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, said that was not the case. He insisted that the hospital is not out to make profit, adding that majority of the patients are not rich. He, however, explained that bills must be charged in order to keep the dream alive.
“I can safely say that majority of our patients are not rich. Our costs are not subsidised by anybody so we cannot make it free because we have to cover our costs, but we are not a profit organisation. The hospital is not here to make profit but it has to be able to meet its cost. It is not free but the prices are reasonable,” he said.
“At this point we are able to meet our expenses, the recession is hitting everybody. But we have made some adjustments, we are back on track. All the rumours about that the hospital has been closed are not true. We ran into the same turbulence like everybody has run into in the recession but we have adjusted and we are back on track,’’ he said.
Workers’ welfare guaranteed, but concern mounts
The hospital has its housing estate for most of the workers, particularly the expatriates, and there is a special transport scheme to convey the workers to and from the hospital. But in the face of the country’s current economic challenges, observers say the engagement of specialists from abroad, who are paid in foreign currencies, when Nigerians are equally qualified and are also occupying top positions in renowned medical facilities abroad might weigh heavily on its running cost and could hinder the quick transfer of expertise to Nigerians.
In response to the concern over the flooding of the hospital with expatriates, Johnson, who acknowledged that “Nigerian doctors are rated some of the best all over the world especially in US and UK”, said: “Our strategy is to start the process and have it run by Nigerians in the near future.”
Hospital’s exploits:
Child with shattered skull saved
During the tragic incident of December 10, 2016 in which many people were injured as a result of the collapsed church building, some with broken legs, skulls and spinal cords, the hospital became a sanctuary for the treatment of the injured working with the best healthcare professionals available in the world.
This was clearly demonstrated in the case of a two-year-old child who was one of the victims of the church disaster and whose treatment at the facility brought home the importance of such a hospital in the country.
According to doctors, the child was brought in a condition that was described as critical and a major emergency surgery had to be performed on his head which was shattered in the accident.
The “brain of the child had to be put back as his skull was shattered and the brain was sticking out”, one of the doctors said.
Man testifies of successful brain tumour operation
For Etim Daniel, a 56-year-old civil servant who had successfully undergone brain surgery at the Ibom Multispecialty Hospital, the doctors at the facility saved his life.
Sitting in one of the private wards with drips on his hand and still shivering, he narrated his experience.
“One side of my body was paralysed. I could not lift my arms up and I felt numb on my arms and feet. I had gone to several health facilities, done scans and tests in many places. When I came here, the scan was interpreted correctly and differently from what was done elsewhere.
“Doctors told me I had a tumour in my brain, that there was blood in the brain trying to form a tumour that paralysed me. I could not walk; it was as serious as that. I was creating a scene in my office. Before I could come out of my vehicle, my staff would be laughing at me. The day I went to the church last, the whole church members were crying for my sake.
“I am alright now, If I did not feel strong how would I be able to talk with you. The cost is much but life is more than money. When I was given the initial estimate, it was frightening. It was one million, five hundred and thirty three thousand, and eleven naira (N1,533,011). If I had looked at that, I would not have been treated. Somebody should not look at that money, when you are out alive, the money will be available,” Daniel said.
According to him, “The thing started as numbness, I did not have any feeling on the left side of the leg. I was thinking it was because of the tight shoes that I was wearing. People were telling me that it was not a medical case. But today, as far as I have had this experience, I believe that there is nothing that doctors here cannot do.’’
Open heart operation to begin soon
Doctors in the hospital are specialists in various fields including neurosurgery, cardiology, oncology, internal medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics and gynaecology. BDSUNDAY gathered that it will soon begin open heart surgery.
An expert in Health Sciences who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “With the best facilities for radiology in the country and on the verge of being the first health facility in the country to commence non-surgical removal of fibroid, the Ibom multispecialty hospital is in a class of its own in terms of specialised healthcare.”
Speaking with our correspondent, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, said: “This is the best equipped hospital in Nigeria in terms of latest technology and equipment. We have got all the hi-tech equipment that we require. The most advanced scanning machines are here, advanced MRI, mammogram, we are not short of equipment. We have the best radiology facilities in the country.”
Asked the plan of making the hospital the India in Nigeria, Johnson said: “In few years time, we will be the best hospital in Africa. I do not know about this hospital being the new India or the new Europe, all I know is that in US and Europe we have Nigerian doctors who are rated the best in the world. We do not need to have a new India but we want to surpass the standard of India. I guarantee that you will get the best medical care here compared to anywhere else in few years time.”
The CMD also disclosed that most of the specialists in the hospital were drawn from India, Italy, Venezuela and other developed countries. He also said that some other health workers, including nurses are also hired from abroad, adding, however, that there are plans to have Nigerians take over the running of the hospital in the long run.
Akwa Ibom woos Nigerian doctors abroad
Dominic Ukpong, Akwa Ibom State commissioner for health, agrees that it is possible for the hospital to be at the forefront of checking the growing incidence of medical tourism, adding that it depends on Nigerians abroad who should be willing to demonstrate patriotism by coming to work in the hospital.
“When there was a tragedy in the state in respect of the collapsed church building, we got some Nigerian doctors through the assistance of the health minister. We had about nine doctors and we worked every day, we were able to save many lives, if we have all these things working, the place will be functioning at 100 percent,” he said.
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