(Photos): Akpabio Commissions Ibom Specialist Hospital

For Akpabio, that dream has become a reality with the unveiling of the multipurpose hall last week. But that seemed just a drop in the
ocean as the governor continues to go round the state in the twilight of his administration to commission 165 other projects that have been completed in the state in recent weeks. Among those projects are world-class specialist hospital that costs about N30 billion and five- star hotel that will be inaugurated today according to schedule of activities in the state. The 308-bed international specialist hospital, billed for inauguration on Monday, May 25, is an ultra-modern medical facility with six fully integrated modular theatres that will redirect medical tourism to Akwa Ibom State and the country.
The hospital that is equipped with 640 slides CT scan, digital mammography, endoscopy surgery, highly sophisticated intensive care units and medical gas plants is sitting on a large landmass with paperless and fully automated laboratories. It also has a helipad to facilitate easy emergency movements to and from the hospital. The entire hospital system is also hooked up to a global system for best practice.
In an interview Akpabio discussed the idea behind the establishment of a hospital of this magnitude. He said: “We lose billions of dollars every year to medical trips abroad. We have also lost a lot of people, not because we don’t have the expertise in the country.
We needed a hospital that can run at international standard. I decided to build general hospitals in local governments that did not have and in areas that are very populated, even if the local government already had one. I found out that what we have here can go for a teaching hospital.
“We also decided to have a hospital that would answer to the needs of Nigerians in terms of advance health management and that was why we built the Ibom Specialist Hospital. It is not like a teaching hospital, it is like a quaternary hospital, it is higher than a teaching hospital. We are starting it with about six modular theatres with equipments, that if for instance you are doing a cardiological investigation on a patient,
cardiologists from around the world can hook up to the theatre and see real time what is going on and make their contributions to the
examination and operation. “That kind of hospital cannot be run by government; we needed to hand it over to a private sector. That is the one that will be a revenue earner. So, instead of rich and wealthy Nigerians and nationals of other West African countries going abroad, it is
easier to come here. Sometimes, people die in the air while being transported abroad for treatment. We wanted to shorten travel time
for patients going abroad and at the same time get revenue for the state from health tourism. It is a beautiful concept, it is also very big. It is comfort combined with excellence. We have about 380 suites and so many operating wards. We are starting with 150 expatriates all at once.
We are in agreement with a Swiss hospital group and an Arab healthcare group in partnership with Cardio Care in Lagos, which is a group of
cardiologists. We are providing a place for a lot of Nigerian skilled personnel abroad to come back home. We are providing a place that is equal to where they are operating from. The MRI system we have installed in that hospital is the best in the whole of West Africa. There is none in Nigeria today. We went for the best because we want to save lives.”