The Enugu State Government has announced that its 300-bed specialist hospital, currently under construction, will commence operations before December as part of efforts to improve healthcare delivery and curb medical tourism abroad.

The Commissioner for Health, Professor George Ugwu, disclosed this while providing an update on the project. He described the facility as a state-of-the-art hospital equipped with advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies that are largely unavailable in the South-East region.

According to him, one of the hospital’s key features is a cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cath lab), which will enable specialists to diagnose and treat complex heart conditions.

“There is no hospital in the whole of this part of the world that has what we call a cath lab. That is a special lab where we’re able to put narrow and tiny tubes into various vessels inside the heart to correct issues there and to treat ailments,” he said.

Professor Ugwu further disclosed that the hospital’s dialysis unit would be equipped with more than 10 dialysis machines. He added that patients would also benefit from a central oxygen supply system and other modern medical infrastructure designed to enhance healthcare services.

“The dialysis suite has over 10 different dialysis machines. No person will be carrying cylinders of oxygen around in our government hospital or looking for this or looking for that. You go there, you see what a modern hospital should be like,” he added.

He explained that the specialist hospital would serve as the apex healthcare facility in the state, receiving referrals from primary healthcare centres, cottage hospitals, general hospitals, teaching hospitals and federal health institutions across Enugu State.

The commissioner also revealed that the government is engaging Nigerian medical specialists in the diaspora to strengthen the hospital’s workforce.

“Many of them are expressing interest to come home and help out and participate in the extraordinary efforts that Governor Peter Mbah is making to change the narrative and bring Enugu to where it should be,” Professor Ugwu said.

He maintained that the hospital is a critical component of the state’s ongoing healthcare reforms and expressed confidence that it would help reverse the trend of Nigerians travelling abroad for specialised medical treatment. (Channels TV)