A’Ibom Govt Partners UUTH For Health Care Management

By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
To ensure that citizens are not left out in the health care management in the State, the Akwa Ibom government is collaborating with the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) to actualise its dreams.
The State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who stated this Friday, during the inauguration of an antenatal facility within the hospital: Patience Umo Eno Antenatal Complex, named after his late wife and immediate past First Lady of the State, Late Pastor Patience Umo Eno, said government was working hard to ensure that no one is left behind concerning health management in the State. 
Eno donated N200 million to the hospital to aid its programmes and projects, and also enrolled patients in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) with N10 million counterpart funding, assuring of his government’s continued collaboration with the hospital.
He said though it is a federal government-owned hospital, Akwa Ibomites largely access the facility and, as such, it could be taken as an Akwa Ibom hospital, adding that whatever support from government to the hospital is for the benefit of its citizenry. 
Eno said his administration was ramming up medical facilities in the State and working very hard to reposition Ibom Specialist Hospital to a standard that would drive medical tourism in the State. 
He furthered that government was opening up the medical corridor with the construction of a Medical Village, a complete mother and child hospital, doctor’s quarters, and building facilities that would promote medical health in the State.
The governor noted that the Antenatal Complex, so commissioned, complements his administration’s passion and dedication to reducing infant mortality rate and ensuring that pregnant mothers are exposed to the best antenatal care in the State.
Eno said he has carefully stayed away from naming any government’s facility or project after his wife though she merits it but when an organisation as the UUTH, in addition to a facility in his local government area, named after his wife by the council chairman, it gives him the sense of appreciation and gratitude for recognising the little contributions she made within the short time she stayed in office as the First Lady of the State.
According to him, there could not have been a better Valentine’s Day gift for him than the honour which, he said, will remain indelible in his heart as long as he lives.
The governor, on behalf of his family, expressed profound gratitude to the UUTH chief medical director (CMD),  Professor Ememabasi Bassey, and the entire management of the hospital for the huge honour done his family by naming and dedicating the Antenatal Complex in honour of his dearly beloved wife and the immediate past First Lady of the State, Late Pastor Patience Umo Eno.
He lauded Bassey for his transformational initiative in the hospital and assured him of government’s continued support to enable him achieve more, while also pledging to continuously collaborate with the UUTH management and other medical stakeholders to actualise its development vision for the medical sector as expressed in the ARISE Agenda.
The coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Lady Helen Eno Obareki, acknowledged the honour done her family through the naming of the antenatal complex after her late mother, thanking the CMD and the UUTH management for the gesture which, she said, is in line with one of the thematic areas of GIFA, maternal healthcare.
The chief medical director of UUTH, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, appreciated the governor for his numerous assistance to the hospital and commitment to transforming the State’s medical sector.
Bassey, a former commissioner for health in the State, said the event was to celebrate and immortalise a virtuous woman who was passionate about the less-privileged and impacted greatly on the lives of many in her capacities as a mother, wife, pastor and First Lady of the State, during her sojourn on earth. 
He said the complex comprises a furnished ward, private rooms, consulting rooms, call rooms, offices, mini laboratory, pharmacy, medical records unit, and a family planning unit, and will also be equipped with an ultra-sound scan, and other diagnostic and therapeutic equipment for quality service delivery to further reduce the maternal mortality rate in the State.
The State chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Aniekan Peter, appreciated Eno for prioritising healthcare in the State and for also appointing medical doctors to serve in the incoming State Executive Council and other key positionsin government.