We’re 100% Ready To Deliver Gov Fubara’s Vision For Health Sector – Prof Alikor

The Chief Medical Director of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Professor Chizindu Alikor, has expressed the hospital’s readiness to fulfill Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s vision for the health sector.

Speaking while receiving members of the Port Harcourt Press during a facility tour of the hospital in Port Harcourt, Prof. Alikor highlighted the significant achievements of RSUTH and outlined future plans to further enhance healthcare services.

Prof Alikor explained that RSUTH has undergone remarkable transformation in recent years since becoming a teaching hospital, and expressed delight that in the last eight months, the hospital has made significant progress in terms of infrastructure, high-tech medical equipment, and highly skilled manpower.

“The hospital has collaborated closely with Governor Fubara to ensure that medical and health workers are up-to-date with international best practices”, he added and mentioned the successful training program conducted in October 2023 with trainers from Salford Royal Hospital in the United Kingdom, focusing on renal issues.

He said, “We have the best renal center in the country, at least in public hospitals, and we are fully prepared to start kidney transplants with His Excellency’s endorsement. RSUTH is also expanding its capabilities in cardiac care interventions.

Prof. Alikor revealed plans for a team to undergo training in coronary cardiac care, utilizing advanced devices for heart repairs.

The Chief Medical Director expressed gratitude for Governor Fubara’s support, stating, “His Excellency has approved accreditation for all the departments in this hospital, and we are excited to begin specialized training in various fields to groom young Rivers people into specialists.”

The CMD added that RSUTH has gained recognition on a national and international level as according to him, the hospital was visited by the United States Consul-General, and the United States Center for Disease Control (USCDC) and had described it as the best among the hospitals they visited.

He said that this visit led to the establishment of the Institute of Infectious Disease in partnership with the USCDC through IHPN. The CMD mentioned an upcoming scientific discussion with IHPN in Abuja, highlighting the hospital’s commitment to training and establishing institutes, schools, and centers to build a highly skilled workforce.

Meanwhile, the CMD has disclosed that RSUTH has developed a five-year development strategy plan that will be launched in two months’ time. Prof. Alikor called upon well-meaning individuals and institutions to support the hospital’s endeavors by endowing funds and resources. He also commended NLNG for donating an Infectious Disease Center, which is now regarded as one of the best in the country.

Concluding, Prof. Alikor pledged the hospital’s commitment to delivering top-notch medical care to the people of Rivers State. He expressed gratitude for the support received from Governor Fubara and the partnership with Port Harcourt Press, emphasizing RSUTH’s determination to realize the vision for the health sector.

Earlier in his speech, the leader of Port Harcourt Press, Prince Ogbonna Nwuke, expressed the purpose of their visit to the hospital. He stated, “Our intention of visiting is to rub minds with you and members of your team. It’s an opportunity that we have to pick information firsthand about what we are seeing here.”

He commended the management of the hospital, acknowledging the significant improvement in the state of health facilities in Rivers State.

Nwuke said, “Let me salute the ingenuity of those of you who manage the state of our health facilities. For those of us who knew that here was BMH, a new status has been attained as the teaching hospital has given us great hope that our people will have the best care.”

He emphasized the importance of a healthy nation and praised the efforts made by the hospital, adding, “I want to salute you because a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. Reports we hear from the sidelines suggest that quite a lot has been done here. Until you drive the process, we will set the agenda, and we will determine how well we can be when we are sick.”

Prince Nwuke expressed gratitude to the hospital management and assured them of the press’s commitment to working in collaboration, saying, “We want to doff our hats and say we are happy. OBJ once said to Peter Odili that ‘if you have a problem with the media, just sleep with one eye closed. But we can assure you that you can sleep with your two eyes closed. We will work for one another’.”

While stressing the importance of accurate information in communicating health policies and programs, Nwuke highlighted the media’s role in verifying information and ensuring transparency.

“As you know, information is very critical even in communicating health policies and programs. We don’t want to live in an era where ‘dem say’ becomes an issue because we have a society where quite a lot of times you cannot verify information.

“We are here to say that we share a common bond to the fact that we want a better and healthy Rivers State, and a state where everything works well. We are critics but very understanding people. Never mind, we will try and tell the story.

A lot of people don’t understand that what you consider local today may be international because if you are reading somebody on the internet, you have already transcended the local boundaries because we have a global village”, he said.