UNIZIK teaching hospital’s permanent site ready for inauguration

The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, said preparations are in top gear for the working visit of the Minister of Health, Prof. Muhammad Pate, for the final inauguration of the permanent site of the hospital.

The Chief Medical Director of NAUTH, Prof. Joseph Ugboaja, disclosed this to journalists during a press briefing on Friday at the facility, adding that the minister, during the visit, would inaugurate several groundbreaking projects, including two oxygen plants, regional ultra-modern radio diagnostic centre for the South-East region, among others.

Ugboaja said the radio diagnostic centre was built across the six geopolitical zones to reduce medical tourism and the one for South-East zone is situated at NAUTH.

He explained that the hospital’s relocation to the permanent site was a calculated effort and strong determination to actualise his mission and vision of moving the health facility from analogue operations to digital operations.

He added that the minister would join the management and staff of the hospital to celebrate the first anniversary of project ianuguration by the Presidency at the permanent site.

He said, “We have moved all the clinical services to the permanent site. Administration, including my office and ancillary services, will be the last to be relocated. Clinical wards formerly run at the temporary site have been relocated to their respective buildings with a full complement of modern support facilities.

“The minister will also preside over the recognition of two of NAUTH’s principal stakeholders which include Dr Cletus Ibeto and Sir Emeka Offor, who will each have a structure named after them. Chief Arthur Eze will equally be honoured.

“The hospital will honour its founding members and recognise Senator Ifeanyi Ubah as well as the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo for their various contributions to the growth of the institution.

“On assumption of office, my resolve was to move the hospital from the temporary site to the permanent site. And also, I have the vision to make NAUTH among the top three health institutions in Nigeria. It should be realised that the hospital has been at the temporary site for over 30 years. There were no good buildings, no good road network, adequate water supply, drainages, and indeed no adequate infrastructure, among other things.”

The CMD added that he began his tenure in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added, “Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and the progressives wanted to invest in the hospital, I was among the people who begged him to build the structure here at the permanent site. It should be noted that the building was the first complete structure built in the hospital.

“I have already declared our vision to make NAUTH ranked among the top three university teaching hospitals in Nigeria and beyond with at least 2,000 bed capacity. That is why there is an urgent need to achieve the vision. We harness the human and material resources, the various departments and units with the objective to realise the vision.

“We are desirous to compete with leading hospitals anywhere in Africa. Our environment is made friendly with the proper esthetics, trees, plants, and landscape in line with our dream hospital.

“As the infrastructure was being developed to satisfy our vision, we procured state-of-the-art equipment to ensure consistency in line with where the hospital is going. We moved the hospital from analogue operations to digital. Some of the staff members are still trying to master it, but it is a constant training till everyone has come to terms. And the hospital places a lot of premium in training and retraining.

“While we are developing the permanent site at a rapid speed, we made a deliberate decision to ensure a happy workforce by ensuring that their needs were met. Promotion of deserving workers was made, and those who applied for regularisation of status were promptly granted. We ensure that NAUTH will not experience work disruption as a result of not meeting the worker’s entitlement.”

The CMD hailed the health minister, saying that he was determined to ensure the reorganisation of the public health system to be more efficient and effective.

He further noted that the minister had attracted a lot of funding to improve the public health sector, adding that the Minister would also conduct the ceremony to mark the establishment of the Regional Radio Diagnostic Centre sited in NAUTH, for the entire South-East geopolitical zone.

“The minister’s visit means a whole lot to us and he is coming to commission projects. Since coming on board, we are seeing things that we haven’t seen before in the public health sector, he has attracted a whole lot of funding to the public health sector.

“A whole lot of funding is needed in the public health sector. We must infuse massively into the health system to tackle the japa syndrome. Anything you do for the hospital, you do it for the patients as the patients trust their lives on us.

“Japa syndrome is a national issue and quite an unfortunate one at that, and it is being discussed at the national level, we are trying to tackle it. What is driving the japa syndrome is largely outside the hospital.

“It’s at the level of retraining the health workers with specialised skills, train the person so that he becomes eligible and then give him the condition that will make him to stay. You must train them and give them the condition that will not make to leave,” the CMD added.