Obingwa General Hospital Ready For Commissioning As Otti Advances Digital Healthcare In Abia

The Obingwa General Hospital, Mgboko, Abia State, the first retrofitted and digitally equipped Secondary Healthcare Facility under the administration of Governor Alex Otti, is ready for commissioning on Tuesday.

The commissioning is part of activities marking Abia State’s 35th anniversary of creation, even as the Otti led administration intensifies efforts to modernise healthcare delivery across the state.

The facility, which has undergone complete remodelling and upgrading, is equipped with digital beds, a modern theatre, solar-powered electricity and advanced diagnostic and clinical equipment, including an AI-enabled device and a digital stadiometer capable of measuring patients’ height, weight, blood pressure, pulse and other vital parameters.

The hospital also has modern radiology facilities, laboratory equipment, including automated and chemical analysers, as well as facilities for comprehensive emergency services.

It is expected to serve as a secondary healthcare hub for residents of Obingwa and surrounding communities, with primary healthcare centres in the area linked to the facility to improve referrals, access and continuity of care.

Inspecting the hospital on Sunday, ahead of its commissioning, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ogbonnaya Uche, noted that the state was gradually transitioning from an analogue to a digital healthcare system.

Prof. Uche said the digital equipments installed at the facility would enable healthcare workers to monitor vital signs and undertake medical procedures more efficiently and allow patients’ records to be securely transferred and stored through the state’s digital archive.

“In fact, one of the equipment that we have here is AI enabled. So all these things are to ensure that we can leverage technology to expand coverage.

“We have a digital stadiometer, it does a lot of things. Instead of using the manual equipment to measure your blood pressure, your heart rate, your weight and height, this one, you just stand on it and it measures your height, your weight, and then there is a hand that you can use to get your blood pressure, your pulse, everything.

“And then it will calculate your BMI. So all your vital parameters at a glance, you get it. And because it is already linked to cloud, our digital archive to transfer all those information and save it.

“So that is what we are doing. And in fact, beyond that, when it registers something that is designed like the blood pressure, you will even tell it. And that is what His Excellency is doing.

“It is not just building the robust, future-ready healthcare. It is also customising it and making it people-friendly, making it contextually appropriate, so that our people will be able to embrace it, use it for their benefit”, the health commissioner stated.

He said the remodelling of the hospital forms part of Governor Otti’s vision to ensure that Abians, particularly those living in rural and suburban communities, could access quality healthcare services irrespective of their location.

According to Prof Uche, the hospital was previously dysfunctional, with leaking roofs and had become a habitation for rodents and reptiles, making it incapable of providing decent healthcare services to residents.

He said rather than demolishing the facility, Governor Otti approved its complete remodelling and transformation into a modern healthcare institution.

“Because the hospital couldn’t really offer decent health care services to people. But, rather than knocking down, His Excellency approved the complete remodelling.

“So what was here before has been remodelled to a modern, and I dare say an ultra modern health care system. So I think Abians should be proud of what His Excellency is doing”, Prof. Uche stated.

The commissioner said the state government had not only equipped the hospital with state-of-the-art medical equipment but had also deployed adequate healthcare personnel to ensure efficient and quality service delivery to residents.

“We also have facilities for radiology, and then of course modern beds and all the basic facilities you need to have in a modern general hospital.

“So we’re happy that we can say that we’re meeting the standards that His Excellency has set”, Prof. Uche stated.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the Abia State Hospitals Management Board, Dr Odochi Azubuike, said the Governor Otti administration was rebuilding the state’s healthcare ecosystem by strengthening the link between primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare.

Azubuike explained that secondary healthcare facilities serve as the critical bridge between primary healthcare centres and tertiary institutions, adding that the Obingwa General Hospital would provide services beyond the capacity of primary healthcare centres in the area.

“So at the level of secondary healthcare facilities, we talk about the general hospitals, cottage hospitals, clinics, dental clinics, and eye clinics. We have the eye clinic here. We’re going to have a dental clinic here.

“We’re going to have laboratories where we have the state of the art modern laboratory, where we have auto analysers and chemical analysers to analyse our blood samples and these are the things you don’t have in primary healthcare facilities.

“So we’re going to offer, in other words, comprehensive healthcare and emergency services. And the governor is a trailblazer by doing that because he understands the healthcare system”, Dr Azubuike stated.

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