|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
An atmosphere of cautious optimism has surrounded the new agreement signed between the Akwa Ibom government and a Canadian-based firm, Clintech group for the management of the Ibom specialist hospital in Uyo, the state capital.
This follows the failure of the previous agreement entered into by the state government Cardio care medical services which ended in a failure as the hospital was shut down with allegations that some equipment got carted away in the process.
The hospital, which has so far gulped over N40 billion and meant to check medical tourism abroad, is wholly owned by the Akwa Ibom government.
Currently running skeletal services, it announced last week that it has carried out major breakthrough when it performed a neurosurgery on a patient who was in a coma.
Prior to when the hospital was shut down, it has consultants from many parts of the world working and being housed by the state government in an exclusive housing estate.
Speaking during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Governor Udom Emmanuel expressed the hope that the new management would have the technical capacity to run the hospital.
According to him, “hospital management experience and competencies as well as financial implications were considered in assessing the entries and capacity of bidders.”
Represented by the secretary to the state government, Emanuel Ekuwem urged the new management to work and meet the objectives of the huge medical facility explaining the state needs healthy men and women to put their hands, as patriotic citizens, on the plough to move the frontiers of economic development and public goodwill forward.
The Commissioner for health, Dominic Ukpong described the MoU as a-red-letter-day for the Ministry of Health, noting that the build up to the formal signing of the agreement was very painstaking.
Ukpong, who earlier recalled the unpleasant experience with the last managers, noted that “the agreement has ensured that we will be together to make it succeed. We do not have any reason to fail.”
Emphasing that the objective was to offer highly specialised medical services to members of the public, reduce morbidity and mortality through prevention and treatment of cases that are beyond the capabilities of secondary and tertiary health care systems, he observed with dismay that Nigerians spend billions of dollars on medical treatment outside the country.
In his remarks, Harrison Ofiyai, president and chief executive officer, Clinotech Group, said they were attracted to Akwa Ibom State to work especially on professional basis and promised to manage the facility professionally and profitably.
He pledged to collaborate with the engineering team, contractors and others to bring about speed and other desired results.
“We will do all our very best within the shortest possible time. We had also thought that we will resume work given short time frame to deal with certain segments of the hospital, moving forward,” he said.
He identified irregular power supply and the need to ensure constant electricity to the facilities in the hospital to enable it run twenty-four-seven operations.
The foundation of the hospital was laid in September 25, 2007 to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the state’s creation while the inauguration was in May 2015.
The signing of the agreement was witnessed by a representative of the Health Minister, Rosemary Bola Olowu; Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Finance, Linus Nkan’ Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Due Process and Technical Matters, Ufot Ebong; Chairman, State Technical Committee on Foreign Direct Investments, Gabriel Ukpe; Chief Medical Director of Turkish Hospital, Abuja, Mustafa Ahen, and Chief Medical Director, University of Uyo Teaching hospital, Isaac Assam Udo.
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo
