The Ebonyi government, under Gov. Francis Nwifuru has restated commitment to the provision affordable and efficient healthcare services to the people of Ebonyi.
Dr Moses Ekuma, Commissioner for Health stated this on Monday in Abakaliki during a brief handover ceremony of a 16-seater Toyota ambulance vehicle with registration number O8A-O9EB by the state government to the Old Ishiagu Community General Hospital.
Ekuma said that approval for the handover of both the old general hospital and the old ambulance was given when the leadership of Ishiagu Community Development Union (ICDU) paid a courtesy visit to the governor earlier in the year.
The commissioner while handing over the ambulance key to the community called on the leadership of to ensure that both the hospital and the ambulance were fully utilised to justify the purpose.
“The handover ceremony we are doing today has been approved by His Excellency, the governor on May 11, when the leadership of Ishiagu Community Development Union paid a courtesy visit to the governor.
“We are handing over the old general hospital at Amokwe, Ishiagu since government has completed the new ultra modern general hospital located at Amagu in Ishiagu to complement medical services in the new hospital.
“The governor as we all know is committed to health sector development hence, has revitalised our general hospitals across the state in terms of personnel recruitment, procurement of state-of-the-art medical equipment and improvements in general infrastructure.
“Before this administration came on board, manpower in our general hospitals was nothing to write home about but, today, there’s non of the general hospitals without enough manpower,” Ekuma said.
He said that the 13 general hospitals located in each of the 13 Local Government Areas of the state were regularly supplied with drugs and other medical consumables to boost healthcare service delivery.
Ekuma who urged the community to patronise the old general hospital to justify the purpose noted that the ambulance would ease the movement of patients who had been referred to tertiary hospitals.
He said: ” For the ambulance we are given to you, make judicious use of it especially in the movement of cases that need referral to tertiary health institutions.”
On the governor’s commitment to achieving universal health coverage, the commissioner noted that Nwifuru had graciously approved the enrolment of the vulnerable, pregnant women and children from five years of age and below in the State Health Insurance Authority (SHIA).
Earlier, Dr Lawrence Ezeogo, Permanent Secretary of the ministry said that the handover of the ambulance would enhance operations at the old general hospital urging the leadership to safeguard government infrastructure in their locality.
“The governor has renovated the doctors’ residential quarters in all our new general hospitals including regular procurement of medical consumables and improvement in the general wellbeing of health workers in the state,” Ezeogo said.
Mr Moses Aja, President-General of ICDU in a speech thanked the state government and Gov. Nwifuru for approving the release of the old general hospital and the ambulance to the Ishiagu community.
Aja, represented by Mr Lawrence Ukwu, secretary-general of ICDU Federated expressed delight to the government saying that the handover ceremony was a climax of a journey that began in May 11 assuring that the community would ensure full functionality of the facility.
“Hon Commissioner, we are grateful to the governor and the state government for this gesture; we assure you that by the next time you visit the hospital, it will look much better .
“We also appreciate the government for the donation of the ambulance as it will aid medical and health service delivery because ambulance services is a critical component in the healthcare delivery services,” Aja said. ENDS//