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Electricity supply to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital will improve as soon as the proposed Odukpani Gas Plant becomes operational....
Electricity supply to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital will improve as soon as the proposed Odukpani Gas Plant becomes operational, the Cross River State governor, Mr Donald Duke, has assured.
Duke dropped the hint in his office in Calabar while receiving the chairman of the Hospital Board of Directors, Prof Gregory Akenzua who led his colleagues on courtesy call on the governor.
Stressing that electricity was a critical factor for the effective running of hospitals and the health care delivery system, Duke said it was disheartening that power supply in the country was yet to stabilize inspite of the huge investment in the sector.
He contended that it was unfortunate that the institution which deals with the lives of human beings was plagued by incessant erratic power supply and to remedy the situation huge sums were spent on buying of fuel for generating plants.
Duke remarked that UCTH has trained a lot of medical professionals in the country thereby impacting positively on the health care delivery system of the country and pledged government support to the hospital as well as parastatals with it in the exchange of medical doctors for the benefit of the people of the state.
The governor explained that St. Margaret Hospital was historic and significant besides the fact that it is sited along an environment where other historical building like governors lodge, the old residency which houses the National Museum and the Court of Appeal, also doubled as the oldest and the first Supreme Court building in Nigeria.
Earlier, Prof Akenzua who is also a Duke of the Benin Kingdom said the board was inaugurated about a year ago and that UCTH as an off-shoot of St. Margaret Hospital established in 1892 but given the status of a teaching hospital in 1979 and had since excelled in several medical fields including the current handling of 700 of HIV/AIDS positive cases.
Akenzua who lauded Duke's transformation strategies, appealed for assistance to enable the hospital complete facilities at its permanent for the accommodation of additional 500 patients.