Fromn Henrietta Ashikodi, Umuahia
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, will commission the Obingwa General Hospital, making it the first retrofitted and digitally equipped secondary healthcare facility in the state under the current administration.
The Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, disclosed this on Sunday during an inspection of the facility. He said the state is gradually moving from an analogue system to a digital healthcare system.
According to him, the hospital is equipped with digital devices that can check vital signs and carry out other medical procedures seamlessly.
“In fact, one of the equipment that we have here is AI-enabled. All these are to ensure that we can leverage technology to expand coverage,” Prof. Uche stated.
“We have a digital stadiometer. It does a lot of things. Instead of using manual equipment to measure your blood pressure, your heart rate, your weight and height, this one, you just stand on it and it measures your height, your weight. Then there is a hand that you use to get your blood pressure, your pulse, everything.
“And then it will calculate your BMI. So all your vital parameters at a glance, you get them. And because it is already linked to the cloud, our digital archive, it transfers all that information and saves it.
“So that is what we are doing. And in fact, beyond that, when it detects something like high blood pressure, it will alert you. And that is what His Excellency is doing.
“It is not just about building a robust, future-ready healthcare system. It is also about customising it and making it people-friendly, making it contextually appropriate, so that our people will be able to embrace it and use it for their benefit,” the Commissioner said.
Prof. Uche reiterated that remodelling the hospital was part of Governor Otti’s vision to ensure that all Abians, including those in rural and suburban areas, have access to the highest quality of healthcare services, irrespective of where they live.
He disclosed that the hospital used to be dysfunctional, with leaking roofs, and was a habitation for rodents and reptiles. He said it could not offer decent healthcare services to the people.
Rather than demolish the building, he said the Governor approved a complete remodelling.
“So what was here before has been remodelled to a modern, and I dare say an ultra-modern healthcare system. So I think Abians should be proud of what His Excellency is doing,” he said.
“The hospital is equipped with the best equipment that can be found anywhere. Government has enough healthcare workers to care for the people.
“The facilities for that are here. We also have facilities for radiology, facilities for surgery, and then of course modern beds and all the basic facilities you need to have in a modern general hospital. So we are happy that we can say that we are meeting the standards that His Excellency has set,” he added.
Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitals Management Board, HMB, Dr. Odochi Azubuike, said Governor Otti is fixing the health ecosystem in the state.
She noted that the secondary healthcare system serves as the bridge between primary and tertiary healthcare services, and lauded the Governor for being a trailblazer in the sector.
“So at the level of secondary healthcare facilities, we talk about general hospitals, cottage hospitals, clinics, dental clinics, and eye clinics. We have the eye clinic here. We’re going to have a dental clinic here.
“We’re going to have laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment, where we have auto-analysers and chemical analysers to analyse blood samples. These are things you don’t have in primary healthcare facilities.
“So we’re going to offer, in other words, comprehensive healthcare and emergency services,” Dr. Azubuike said. She added that the Governor is a trailblazer because he understands the healthcare system.
The Obingwa General Hospital, Mgboko, which is equipped with modern digital beds, a world-class theatre, and solar-powered electricity, among others, will serve as a secondary healthcare facility for the people of the area, while the primary healthcare centres in the area will be linked to it.
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