By Abigail Ayindero-Oyenibi, Okene
Staff of the Reference Hospital, Okene have been charged to be patriotic in the discharge of their official duties.
Chief Medical Director of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ahmed Ahijo gave the charge while speaking to newsmen after a facility tour of the hospital.
Prof. Ahmed, who was part of the National Universities Commission (NUC) resource verification team for the establishment of a school of medical sciences at the Confluence University of Science and Technology CUSTECH Osara, said the call has become necessary in view of the amount of money expended in the purchase and maintenance of equipment at the hospital.
He commended government for the huge investment in the health sector and stressed the need for the management team to manage the hospital well, saying it will go a long way in ensuring that the people of Kogi State get the needed human resources for the desired qualitative healthcare
On his part, the team lead and professor of Paediatric Surgery, Prof. Awwal M Abubakar, said they were in the hospital on resource verification in furtherance of the application by CUSTECH to rum medical programs.
Prof. Awwal described the tour round the hospital as impressive, stating that they will visit the University too before writing their report.
Also speaking, the CMD of Reference Hospital Okene, Prof Solomon Avidime, said the visit by the team was to evaluate CUSTECH to run Medical programs, noting that the requirement includes the availability of a corresponding Teaching Hospital for training of the medical students.
While expressing optimism that the exercise will be fruitful, Prof Avidime explained that the mandate of the hospital from onset was to serve as a training ground for medical personnel, stating that the hospital was already in partnership with the State College of Nursing and Midwifery Obangede.
In a remark, the Provost, Federal University, Lokoja College of Medicine, Prof. Mike Ogirima, expressed hope that approval will be granted CUSTECH to start its medical College because of the various departments and facilities available at Reference Hospital Okene.
