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By Omodele Adigun
Sterling Bank Plc has partnered Ekiti State government and Helium Health on the installation of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system in hospitals across the state to provide robust digital health care service delivery to the people.
The bank disclosed this in a statement following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Data Bank Building, Ministry for Health in Ado-Ekiti.
It explained that the health sector is one of the five sectors where it is focusing investments under its HEART’s of Sterling programme in a bid to make an impact in the economy. The other sectors are Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation.
Speaking on the partnership, Mrs Ibironke Akinmade, Group Head for Health in Sterling Bank, noted that healthcare will greatly improve in Ekiti by the time the EMR is fully in place. This will bring an end to the practice of carrying files from office to office in hospitals and clinics across the state. She added that mismanagement of data would also become a thing of the past.
Describing the EMR initiative as a laudable project, Mrs. Akinmade expressed the bank’s appreciation to Governor Kayode Fayemi and his team for allowing the bank to play a significant part in the effort to improve on health care delivery in the state.
She said the partnership aims to digitise most of the hospitals in Ekiti State in a bid to improve the health care and well being of everyone in the state. The initiative will also make medical access easier for the people in the state, she said.
“By just going to any hospital and providing their phone numbers, citizens can have access to their medical records and enjoy better data engagement. This will reduce leakages and provide access visibility while people will enjoy better medical attention. Sterling Bank had set aside money for this project six months ago. We had already done it in other states and we plan to go to as many states as possible.
“Health is one of the five pillars of Sterling Bank. It is a sector that is very dear to us as a bank because we are very passionate about the well being of every Nigerian. Rather than just do our traditional business, we want to enrich lives,” she said.
Mr. Abiola Osunniyi, Head of Regional Growth (Public Sector) with Helium Health, said the agreement will enable critical health infrastructure for digitisation of four hospitals in Ekiti that will be used as pilots before expanding to other hospitals.
