Ibom specialist hospital requires N15bn to attain full operations

The Ibom specialist hospital requires about N15 billion for the completion of all its on-going projects to enable it become a world class health centre  that will attract medical tourist from many parts of the world.

The hospital which is owned by the Akwa Ibom government has since started operations and is offering specialised services in many key areas of medical practice. It is currently manned by experts drawn from Nigeria and abroad.

Dominic Ukpong, Akwa Ibom State commissioner for health who made this known in an interview said the amount would be spent to complete ongoing projects and the installation of additional medical equipment adding that  when completed would help to check the huge foreign exchange spent on medical tourism abroad by Nigerians.

He said the amount was arrived after the hospital’s need assessment was carried out by experts saying so far, it remains one of the best equipped health facility in the country.

Ukpong said since most Nigerians prefer to travel to India for medical treatment, the state government had decided to engaged specialist doctors from that country but expressed regret that due to the slide the value of the country’s current, many of them have relocated abroad.

He said the state government has gone into partnership with a firm for the running of the hospital for a period of the years during which period, many Nigerians and indigenes of the state would be in positions to run the hospital.

According to him, the state government would soon submit a bill to the state house of assembly for the establishment of a medical insurance scheme to enable many people from the state to benefit from the services provided in the state in which the fees charged are beyond the reach of many.

Maintaining that ‘there is no free medical services provided  anywhere in the world’ he said the medical insurance scheme to be instituted by the state government would enable thousands of people to avail themselves of the services provided by the state.

The commissioner also disclosed that the state government has completed plans to send a bill to the house of assembly for the establishment of primary healthcare development agency as part of efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery at the grassroots and sure that primary health centres become fully operational.

In addition, he said hospital equipment worth millions of naira would soon be brought into the state for the upgrade of health facilities and to ensure improved access to healthcare by the people.

The commissioner who decried the hawking of herbal products openly in the state said a lot of resources would be needed to check the activities of the hawkers and the producers  pointing out that a taskforce would soon be constituted to deal with the menace.

He disclosed that three health facilities in the state have been closed down due  to the ‘’poor conditions’’ of the operations adding that the state government is committed to “creating the foundation for sound healthcare services in the state.”