The Abia State Government has announced that the proposed Medical City, a flagship quaternary healthcare initiative by the present administration would gulp a total investment of $1.3 billion.
The project is aimed at transforming Abia into a regional hub for advanced medical services as well as Nigeria’s most comprehensive healthcare ecosystem upon completion.
The Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, disclosed this, Saturday, when he led Journalists on a tour of the 200-hectare project site, around Owerrinta, Isialangwa South LGA.
Prof Uche revealed that a globally reputable engineering procurement construction consortium, known as the MKP International Holdings, has been contracted by the State Government under a Develop, Build, Operate, and Transfer agreement to fund and deliver the project within 24 months.
“The Government is contributing land and goodwill, assets that are critical. That’s part of what the government of Abia State has brought to the table”, Prof Uche noted.
He said that the Medical City, designed to meet global standards comparable to Medical Cites across the world will feature a 1,000-bed ultramodern hospital, a state-of-the-art oncology center, a digital diagnostics hub, and surgical and transplant facilities capable of handling complex procedures such as robotic and organ surgeries.
According to the Commissioner, the complex will also include facilities for Medical Tourism, with a five-star hotel, a step-down hospital, and luxury accommodations for patients and their families.
“The idea is that people, when they are sick and they are seeking care here, their families can come and have a holiday, a medical holiday”, Prof. Uche explained.
The Commissioner cited the staggering $1.6 billion lost annually to outbound medical tourism as a major motivation behind the initiative adding that the project would help curb the ‘Japa’ syndrome among Doctors and nurses leaving the shores of the country due to poor working environments.
“We will have facilities that can cater for the tourism aspect of healthcare. We’re also going to have an ultra-modern oncology center. As you may well know, cancer care is one of the reasons people leave this country for care abroad.
“Whether you are talking about radiotherapy, you’re talking about radiosurgery, radio-oncology, you’re talking about emerging therapies, you’re talking about the newer chemo-therapeutic agents and their momentum for delivering those.
“All those are going to be available here with the best-in-class medical experts that can come in from all parts of the globe to be part of the workforce in this place.
“So this ecosystem will also house a modern surgical center that can take care of laparoscopic surgeries, robotic surgeries.
“It will also take care of all forms of brain, spine, orthopedic, organ transplantation, cardiac transplant, cardiac surgeries, name it, any level of surgery.
“There will also be a place for cosmetic surgery. You know that a lot of people travel to go and have bariatric surgery, to go and have liposuction, to go and have nose jobs and all that.
“All those things will be done here in this place. And that will help to reduce the number of people going for such surgeries outside. Of course, while giving them the best-in-class qualitative service available anywhere in the world.
“We’re also going to have an ultramodern children’s hospital in this place, a fertility center. You will also have a place where you have the best-in-class ophthalmology center that will cater for the high health needs of people. So name it, whether it’s organ transplantation, whether it’s orthopedics, whether it’s neurology or neurosurgery or cardiac surgery, interventional cardiology.
“And then it’s also going to have a diagnostic center that is second to none in West Africa. Perhaps in Africa. So they’re going to have MRIs, PET scans, and the modern radiological diagnostic equipment and service that you find anywhere in the world.
“This center is also going to have a hub for digital health technologies. Of course, you know today that you have AI, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality. All these are now part of what doctors and nurses use anywhere in the world to support diagnosis and care of complicated cases.
“So you’re going to have metaverse hospitals. Metaverse refers to virtual reality, augmented reality. So you’re going to have all that in this place.
“There’s going to be a helipad there that will ensure that we can have air ambulance services connecting with hospitals across this nation. And then, of course, there will be also, there’s an intention to ensure that the air ambulance service will be active”, Prof Uche further explained.
He said that the Medical City will serve as a top-tier training institution, partnering with International Universities and cater for students and residents from within and outside Abia State.
“This is going to be the apogee of a training institution. Our students will be exposed to the highest level of care and the best protocols globally.
“And beyond that, we’re going to have research institutes that will be affiliated with the best hospitals and universities in this world, on the globe. As I’m talking to you, we have already received expressions of interest from top-class universities in the U.S. who want to partner with the medical city.
” So we will have a place where our children can be trained, where our old people can be looked after, our young people can be looked after, in an ecosystem that supports healthy living”, Prof Uche noted.
