Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Prof. Azubuike Onyebuchi, has said that major challenges confronting the health facility and still lingering are ‘Japa’ syndrome and power shortage.
Onyebuchi disclosed this yesterday on the occasion of the end-of-year parley with the staff of the hospital, stating, “Definitely, one of our major challenges is the problem of power. It hasn’t gone away, but the Minister of State has assured us that his ministry is going to work to help us have renewable energy in the hospital that will reduce the load of our EEDC bill and of course the amount of money we spend on diesel.
“Averagely, we spend about N30 million every month on the EEDC bill, maintenance of generators and buying of diesel. That is why government is taking it seriously and in this year’s budget, the Ministry of Health, I think, has added something to help hospitals have some form of renewable energy that will reduce the load on them in terms of the amount we spend on energy.
“However, we have been able to maintain 24-hour power, despite the humongous amount we spend. That is basically due to the prudence of the management.”
The CMD further disclosed, “Again, the ‘japa’ syndrome is continuous. On japa, we have significant number of our work force who have ‘japaed’ and it is affecting our services and we are just managing to backup these services. Just today, I got a resignation from somebody. Two days ago, I got two resignations from some people.
“So, those two problems are still persisting, but I am sure that with what we are discussing with the Federal Government, and the Head of Service, very soon, the ability to replace those staff will be less cumbersome.”
On the payment of salary of those who have left the FMC service, Onyebuchi said, “For us, as soon as we discovered that you are no longer in service, we stop your salaries. That is the first thing we do and of course, take actions according to the public service rules to deal with the situation. If we give you a query and you don’t answer it, and you didn’t take proper permissions to travel, we will terminate your appointment.”
He also spoke extensively on his achievements in the hospital, stating, “We are almost through with one of the biggest Accident and Emergencies Centre that you will have in Nigeria. We are 90 per cent complete.
“We also upgraded the stores building, constructed a new micro-biology laboratory building, a 60-bed female orthopedic ward, and constructed a brand new NHIS clinic for NHIS patients in a one-stop shop. We are constructing a 20-bed guest house for FMC that will help us increase our internally generated revenue; we are also constructing a 30-room intern quarters, and constructing an ENT that will be furnished this year and be put into use.
“We installed two new dental chairs for our VIP patients, made the endoscopic unit very robust and all the equipment we need, their tower and all its accessories have been put in place and overhauled and we have started using them; the general surgeries and obstetrics and gynecology can now do their minimal surgeries very easily.
“We furnished the IVF building, including buying modern ultrasound equipment that they use in working. We furnished all offices, including the ENT complex that we constructed last year, all are in use now. At the medicine outpatient clinic, we have remodeled it. We installed two dental chairs for our VIPs in a VIP area, making it exclusive for those who can pay more than the normal people. We have been able to improve on security by revamping our CCTV, using technology.”
On the kidney transplant section, he said that “the nephrologist that drives the renal plant went to America to upgrade his knowledge and had just returned last week. So, in 2024, we are going to have a lot of renal transplant.”
Capital allocation has been on the increase since Onyebuchi came in as the hospital CMD and he said that the releases are also prompt, adding, “The releases have eventually been 100 per cent since last year that we had some issues. That is why you are seeing some massive infrastructural changes going on. You can count me a very lucky CMD. I am making use of that money and adding value for the money that we are receiving from the Federal Government.
“So, we have done a lot this year, hence I said we needed to thank God for what He has done for us and thank the Federal Government. Any year I thank God, the following year becomes better. So, why won’t I continue to thank God? I thanked God last, and I achieved 50 per cent of what I am achieving this year. So, I know, next year, I will achieve 200 per cent of what I have achieved this year. So, I will keep thanking God.”
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