Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has assured Management of Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia of his support to ensure that the vision to upgrade the institution to a Teaching Hospital is achieved.
Speaking while receiving in audience members of the Board Management of the FMC, Umuahia that called on him at Government House Umuahia, recently, Governor Ikpeazu said upgrading the FMC to teaching hospital will serve a multipurpose medicare in the State and the country in general adding that his administration would provide the needed support to realize the dream of the board.
While thanking the Board for the strategic steps taken to ensure the vision is achieved, he urged them not to be discouraged by inadequate funding and other factors that could militate against the move adding that creating awareness would be an indispensable requiste in championing the course.
Governor Ikpeazu who disclosed that his administration is focused on improving the lives of aged parents, mother and child through providing free door-to-door medical outreach and by building a state of the art healthcare centers in the State that will help to curb the increased rate of maternal/infant mortality in the country adding that the Abia Tele-Health Initiative was part of the project established to take care of emergency conditions and complement the vision he has in the health sector.
He said his administration is retooling the secondary healthcare with great efforts to linking over 700 Primary healthcare centers in the State to the call center of the Dial-a-Doctor initiative pointing out that he is working towards replicating the same feat in the tertiary healthcare.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Board and the leader of the delegation, Senator John Damboyi, had said they came to identify with the Governor for the developmental achievements he has recorded in the State as well as intimate him with the vision of the Board to improve and upgrade the FMC Umuahia to a Teaching Hospital.
He further disclosed that the move to transform the FMC Umuahia was not borne out of selfishness but an outcome of the decision and pronouncement made by a medical team from the Federal Ministry of Health that came on official inspection visit to the institution.
While thanking the governor for his remarkable contributions to the progress of FMC with emphasis on the Kidney transplant innovation and the Tele-Health Initiative he brought into the State, Senator Damboyi, said the intergral structures needed to transform FMC had been on ground.
He, therefore, stated their resolve to make governor Ikpeazu the chairman of friends of FMC who would assist in overseeing that the structures needed to ensure the project is realized.
Present during the visit were the Commissioner for Health, Dr. John Ahukannah, CMD FMC, Dr. Abali Chukwu, Executive Assistant to the Governor, Elder John Nwangborogwu, and the Permanent Secretary Government House, Elder Bernard Ogbonna.
