…Offsets N10m hospital bills of indigent residents
By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
These are, indeed, happy times for some indigent residents of Abia State. Their source of happiness is Unubiko Foundation, a non-governmental humanitarian organisation, which paid their over N10 million bills at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, capital of the state.
The beneficiaries were patients who had completed treatment at FMC, but couldn’t be discharged due to pending bills at the hospital. But succour came their way between October 16 and 17, 2023, through the foundation, which also extended its intervention to beneficiaries from the Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency who were on admission at the hospital.
One of the beneficiaries from Ohafia, Njasi Agwu, who had been detained at FMC for weeks due to her insolvency, said that she was grateful to the foundation for relieving her of her worries. The foundation offset her N601,000 debt.
Unubiko Foundation also paid Akudo Enyinnaya’s N411,000 hospital debt. And she was overwhelmed.
Jumbo Goodness also benefited from the good deed of the foundation, as her bill of N309,000 was settled. She volunteered that she was discharged on June 9 but could not go home because she was broke. So, the gesture is something she cannot forget in a hurry.
Indeed, all the beneficiaries sang songs of gratitude as they were let go. They were grateful to Chief Chijioke Ume for his uncommon gesture and prayed for more blessings for him so that he can assist more people.
The founder/chairman of the foundation, Chief Chijioke Ume, said settling the hospital bills of indigent residents would add value to their life. According to him, it will help them reunite with their families and resume their normal life.
Ume, who was represented by the coordinator of the hospital programme, Dr. Okoro Christopher Kalu, remarked that the gesture would help free up bed spaces for other patients.
Kalu told a newspaper: “So far, we cleared the bills of 14 persons, and we still have about 10 persons listed to be cleared today (Tuesday). We have also informed the hospital about it, which brings the total number of persons reached to 20.
“This intervention is in line with the modus operandi of the foundation, and the chairman found it worthy for us to assist indigent persons with hospital debts. Some of them have spent four months in the hospital. Some have varying bills, running into over N600,000, N400,000 and N100,000.
“We had to clear those bills so that they could return to their families and start their normal lives because staying back there was a form of imprisonment.”
He added that the two-day initiative was a way of assisting Governor Alex Otti in ensuring that the benefits of humanitarian services got to the grassroots.
Professor Onyebuchi Azubuike, chief medical director of the FMC, who was represented by Anosike Uche, executive officer, Medical Social Welfare, FMC, commended the foundation and Chief Ume, for the noble and humanitarian gestures and prayed to God to reward him immeasurably.
Over the years, the foundation, through its diverse initiatives, has impacted millions of people in over 50 Abia communities and elsewhere, costing over N700,000 million.