By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
The Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Healthcare Service Delivery, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo, has said that the new Abia State helmsman is passionate about upgrading various health facilities across the state to make them more responsive to the health needs of residents.
Okoronkwo spoke when she led a team on an assessment tour of general hospitals in the state, including the Umunnato General Hospital, Bende LGA, General Hospital, Abiriba, Ohafia LGA and Isuikwuato General Hospital.
She decried the deplorable state of the hospitals, adding that the assessment tour will take the team round the 12 general hospitals in Abia State for proper attention.
Okoronkwo described as unimaginable a situation where only one medical doctor and three nurses were posted to attend to patients in a general hospital, disclosing that her team will submit the report of her findings to the governor for the next line of action.
She used the opportunity to charge staff of the hospitals to be alive to their duties as the era of redundancy was over.
In their speeches while conducting the team round the health facilities, the medical doctor in charge of Umunnato General Hospital, Dr. Chidi Uwanna, his counterpart in Abiriba General Hospital, Dr. Genevieve Maduako, and Dr. Okocha Sunday of Isikwuato General Hospital, named poor security, lack of electricity supply, dilapidated structures and obsolete equipment as some of the challenges hindering patients from patronizing the hospitals. They expressed the hope that the visit of the team would turn around the fortunes of the hospitals for the better.
In his inaugural speech, Otti promised to turn around the health sector of the state to provide quality health care services to the citizenry.
The acting chief executive officer, Hospital Management Board, Dr. Charity Egwuekwe, and the director, medical services, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Rosemary Ajah, joined Okoronkwo on the tour.