Gbenga Odogun Lokoja
When The Okene General Hospital was demolished in 2019,not very many people were exited. Critics have asked why the Governor took such an “irrational” decision as to order the demolition of a General hospital that have been serving the people over the years. Critics have wondered Where the funds to build another one that will equal the standard of the one demolished talkless of improving on the standard of the one demolished. However, only very few people knew that would the beginning of a revolution that will place Kogi State on world map, serves as a reference point in health care delivery and put an end to medical tourism that take our politicians and other Novea riche out of the country with it’s attendant pressure on the Economy. Today,a 300 bed referrence Hospital fully equipped with modern facilities comparable with those in Europe, America and Asian countries sits comfortabley on about 5 hecters which played host to the demolished Okene General Hospital.
The hospital is a world class Reference Hospital for the treatment of advanced medical conditions that have been forcing Kogites and Nigerians to go abroad in search of succour, it has Female Wards Male Wards, Emergency Wards, Surgical Wards, Medical Wards, VIP Ward, VVIP Wards, all of which are ten each in number. It also has a Ward for Renal ailments and another one for Dental issues. It has two different Laboratories (Hematology Lab and Histopathology Lab).
The Hospital is fitted with Ultra Sound Room for scanning, Mammography (Scanning for breast cancer), MRI Machine (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), Oxygen Building, Hyperbaric Oxygen Center etc.
The Hospital has has Four Consultancy Rooms with Eight Call Rooms Three Elevators, Eight Pharmacy Sections, Antenatal Clinic, Neonatal Room, Nurse Station, Post Natal, Surgery Theatre, Collection Point, Blood Bank etc.
There are more than 12 Electrical Rooms, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with Nine bed spaces, Standard Theatre Rooms and Five well-equipped Libraries for doctors.
It has a 60-seat capacity Conference Hall, Standard Seminar Hall with Six projectors and electronic gadgets and a befitting Restaurant.
Meanwhile, everywhere in the architectural masterpiece is electronically wired with CCTV Cameras, Automatic Fire Extinguisher and Water Sprinklers, fire hose (Automatic fire fighter. It has a covered walkway – because of rain, a robust panel for 24-hour water supply, an X-Ray Room that is made up of laid linen which protects the machine from damage and stops it from giving wrong results as well as the Earth Rod which protects the machine from thunder and lightening.
The sort of massive investment in this Hospital is the stuff only great men of vision and big dreams are capable of. With this immense structure that is capable of attracting tourists to the state from far and near, Kogi state will not be the same again when the project is commissioned by the President.
The state Commissioner for information and communication strategy, Kingsley Fanwo described the hospital as a first class Medical Institution that will re-write the story of medical practice and access in Nigeria.
“The hospital will radically change the face of healthcare delivery in Kogi and Nigeria as many will have access to excellent medical facilities and services.
Again, the hospital is intended to end medical tourism abroad. What Nigerians travel abroad to access medically are all available at the Reference Hospital, Okene. This will also help reduce capital flights abroad.
The Reference Hospital, Okene will serve as Teaching Hospital to the newly established Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara. It will ensure that our Medical Students from the school are top notch.
“We also want to use the state-of-the-art hospital to drastically reduce maternal mortality rate”. Said the commissioner for health,Dr Abubarkar zakari.
According to the Governor, “women are not supposed to lose their lives in the process of giving birth to lives. With the health policies of the Governor, we have been able to drag the rate down. With this hospital, we can drag it down the more.
One other interesting thing about the hospital is the fact that it has its own Oxygen Plant. The capacity of the plant is such that we can permanently solve the problem of inadequate oxygen in the entire North Central and some parts of South East, South South and South West.
Okene is bordered by Edo and Ondo State. Many of the states around Kogi will depend on the Oxygen Plant at the Reference Hospital, Okene.
Also come to think of the traffic to the medical facilities at the FCT. It will come down drastically now as everything is available in Kogi State. People living in some West African countries will find Kogi State closer than Europe and America. In all, the Kogi State Reference Hospital will address health needs, economic needs and also ensure national, sub-regional and regional integration.
It is more than a Reference Hospital
The Okene, reference hospital is just one of the many intervention of Bello’s new Direction initiatives in the health sector. Similar edfice were replicated in all three senatorial districts. The idah General Hospital has been upgraded to the status of a Specialist to serve as one of the planned Renal Dialysis Centers across the State.
The Kogi State Government is currently building two massive Infectious Disease Hospitals while renovation and equipping the existing health facilities, like the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, Teaching Hospital Anyigba, and the General Hospital Isanlu have all been completed
procurement and distribution of essential medicines, electronic data capturing and tracking system have improved the Health Management Information System in the state.
No fewer than 31,000 people have been enrolled into the State Health Insurance Agency (KGSHIA), under the Vulnerable Group Health Insurance Programme of Governor Yahaya across the 21 local government areas of the state.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Aledare Adekunle, while speaking during the Lauching if the scheme in Lokoja said that the bill establishing the agency was passed by the House of Assembly on November 18, 2018, and the state Governor Bello assented to it in April 24, 2019.
He said that The Health Insurance Initiative provides affordable healthcare services to the people. It also provides financial risks and strengthening health system by reducing user fees which constitute a major barrier in accessing healthcare need at the point of service delivery.
Meanwhile, there is also Bello Health Intervention (BHI) Program which was designed to help critically sick and indigent patients particularly the vulnerable children with various life-threatening issues. The BHI addresses the plights of patients ranging from those with stroke, congestive heart failure, malignant diseases, various degrees of trauma including Spinal cord injury etc. In critical cases some patients were sent abroad for advanced treatments.
Through BHI, 50,000 surgeries were successfully conducted. These were apart from other medical treatments including eye care, gynaecological care, laboratory investigations and others that were rendered for free for indigent patients while others were treated abroad through indigent funds set up under the initiative. Under this scheme a conjoined twins was successfully separated.
The government also procured assorted customized paediatric drugs for citizens, mostly of lower social economic status irrespective of your tribe, location or political affiliation.
The Ministry of Health in conjunction with Kogi State Bureau for Private Public Partnership (BPPP) partners with willing investors to bring quality healthcare services into the State under a PPP arrangement, in the areas of radio diagnostics and laboratory services.
The Ministry of health also equipped five selected public hospitals across the three senatorial districts with State-of-the-art medical equipment, peak performance theatre equipment, essential drugs and premium quality diagnostic apparatus of international standards.
To further illustrate the promise he made, the Primary Health Care Centre across the wards in the state were renovated and remodelled for proper usage in delivery of health care services to the locals.
The abandoned Confluence Advanced Medical Diagnostic Imaging Center (CAMDIC) has been remodelled and currently providing services such as the Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Computerized Tomography (CT) scan, Digital Mammography, Digital Radiography, echocardiography, fluoroscopy, sonology with Doppler services.
The establishment of Kogi State Sustainable Drug Supply system (SDSS) was designed to ensure a systemic provision of genuine and affordable drugs to the health facilities in a sustainable manner.
An electronic data tracking system was also introduced to track drug consumption and utilization at the heath facility level. This is in addition to the establishment of the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) for the coordination of emergency outbreaks response; Nutrition House for the Acceleration of Nutrition result to quicken the delivery of nutrition services to the malnourished children.
In line with his priority on health, Bello inaugurated a steering committee for the implementation of the Basic Health care provision funds and released N100 million bond amongst other requirement to participate in the program.
To assist the pregnant women, Kogi state government has also launched Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) to ease their transportation from rural areas to the designated hospitals.