By Frank Iroro
Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Governor on Health Monitoring, Dr. Michael Nwoko, has said Delta State has the best indices for achieving the Universal Health Coverage Policy in the Country.
Dr. Nwoko stated this at the General Hospital Owa Alero, shortly after monitoring some health facilities in Ika South and Ika North East Local Government Areas of Delta State, with his colleague, Dr Patrick Onwuachi.
Central Hospital Agbor was the first to be visited by the monitoring team, where it was received on arrival and conducted round by the Zonal Medical Director, Dr. Philemon Okolie and other senior management staff of the hospital.
Dr Nwoko thanked the staff for their efforts and urged them to do more in rendering quality services to their clients as Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was determined to ensure that all health facilities in the state performed optimally to guarantee the realization of the Universal Health Coverage for all in the state.
He disclosed that the Office of the SSA on Health Monitoring had designed a checklist which all health facilities visited were expected to complete and submit to the office for the purpose of evaluation, data collation, analysis, interpretation and reporting.
The SSA described health insurance as the watershed of global healthcare delivery service and stressed the need for healthcare providers to sensitize their out of pocket clients on the need to enrol in the Delta State Contributory Health Scheme.
Also speaking, Dr. Patrick Onwuachi advised public healthcare providers to be dedicated to their duties and cautious to patients by showing love and care to them in their health conditions.
He reminded them about the prevailing harsh economic situation in the country and gave instances where parents had to watch their children die due to lack of funds to pay their medical bills, saying that they should expect anyone found in such a condition to be hostile and find a way to handle the situation.
Dr Onwuachi spoke on the issue of litigations involving Doctors and Health facilities which bordered on neglect and mishandling of clients and called on healthcare professionals to respect ethical principles while attending to their clients.
The Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr Mimmi Osegi, advised the Zonal Medical Director and top management staff of the hospital to evolve ways of reaching out to stakeholders in the community, with a view to enlightening the people on the operations of the hospital and engendering a cordial relationship between the facility, its clients and the host community.
After a tour of the facility, the team noted the challenges and promised to channel them to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.
The monitoring team later visited the General Hospital Owa Oyibu and the Owa Alero General Hospital, where Dr Nwoko urged the contractor handling the renovation of the facility to expedite action in order to complete the project in record time.
He said the call had become necessary because more spaces were needed to decongest the wards.
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