Obiano Donates N288m To Mission Hospitals In Anambra State

VICTOR ORAMALI 

Stakeholders agree that Churches are strong partners of any government more so Anambra which has made it a point of duty to regularly interface with missions and give them grants for infrastructure upgrade in their centres.

Yesterday, the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, presented cheques worth about N288m as “GRANT IN AID” to faith based hospitals in the state.

Addressing the participants during the official presentation of the cheques, which held at Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre in Awka, Governor Obiano detailed the interventions of his administration in the health sector.

Obiano pointed out that before he assumed office in 2014, Mission hospitals were the only active secondary healthcare providers in the state but he worked to revive some general hospitals by remodeling, equipping them and recruiting doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.

“The first set of medical students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University could not graduate after spending ten years for a course that was supposed to take six in the school. We worked assiduously and secured every required accreditation within months. Same with College of Health Technology, Obosi and School of Nursing, Nkpor”.

Speaking further, the Governor recalled stories of how pregnant women were carried on wheel barrows to health centres and how he changed the face of primary healthcare centres in the state.

“We established Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and I approached Dr. Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Group and we procured about 430 Keke ambulances from him, fully equipped and shared to all the PHCs in the state”.

Concluding his address, Governor Obiano informed that his administration has donated about N2.4b as “Grant in Aid” to Mission hospitals from 2014 till date and therefore urged the church to continue supporting the state.

Earlier in his address, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Vincent Ogochukwu Okpala, said that Governor Obiano has done marvelously well on the six building blocks of health.

He noted that the bane of healthcare delivery anywhere is Healthcare Financing, which the Governor achieved when he established Anambra State Health Insurance Scheme (ASHIA).
“Our health insurance scheme is among the top three most performing health insurance agencies in the country. We have a capable leadership managing that very important Agency of Government. With only N12000, you can access quality and affordable healthcare services anywhere in the state.”

“Today, states are coming to copy from us because we are doing well. Anambra qualified among the first set of states that benefited from the National Healthcare Provision Fund. Beneficiaries are evenly distributed across the PHCs, towns and Local Government Areas of the state. That was possible because of the huge investments of Governor Obiano in Health”.

Dr. Okpala thanked Governor Obiano for his visionary leadership of the State and commended Mission hospitals especially Immaculate Heart Hospital Nkpor, Immaculate Heart Specialist Hospital, Aguleri, Iyi Enu Mission Hospital and St. Charles Borromeo for their support during the peak of coronavirus pandemic in the state.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of ASHIA, Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi, while thanking Governor Obiano for his huge investments in the health sector buttressed the import of faith based hospitals in delivering quality healthcare services to the people.

Dr. Onyemaechi, who is also a Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, pointed out that the Church is a strong partner of the state on a lot of fronts. He noted that private hospitals account for about 70% of the healthy delivery while the Church alone has about 40% of that figure thus making them major stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

Rev. Father Vincent Okala Abanogu, the Chief Executive Officer of Immaculate Heart Multi Specialty Hospital, Aguleri, expressed his happiness over the gesture.

He informed that what the Governor has done will go along way in boosting the morale of mission hospital healthcare workers.

On what the hospital did differently during COVID-19, Fr. Vincent said that it is a standard in the Hospital to always treat every case with utmost importance it requires stressing that to them, standard remains the same.
Details of the donations:42 Catholic hospitals, N198m26 Anglican Mission hospitals, N61m1 Pentecostal Hospital, N30m

Dignitaries that attended the event include, Secretary to State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, State Head of Service, Barr. Harry Udu, Bishop Hillary Okeke, Catholic Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Rt. Hon. Dr. Paschal Agbodike, Deputy Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha and Chairman Anambra State and South East Traditional Rulers Council, Anambra State EXCO members, the clergy, ndi Igwe, LGA Council Chairmen, PGs are some of the dignitaries present.