300-bed Hospital: Kaduna To Stem Medical Tourism

The new 300-bed Specialist Hospital which was abandoned by previous administrations, will stem the tide of medical tourism because of its state of the art facilities and medical experts of diverse fields.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai gave the assurance while fielding questions from some Kaduna based broadcast journalists on Wednesday and the interview was aired live on all local stations.

El-Rufai explained that Kaduna State Government signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates based Doctors Clinic Company as part of the proactive steps to get the hospital ready for service delivery.

According to him, the UAE Company will run the hospital as an efficient and sustainable facility, which will operate based on global best practices, adding that it will have 26 departments, six theatres, Intensive Care Units and facilities for cardiology, oncology and nuclear medicine.

The governor said that his administration also signed another agreement with Elekta, for the purchase of equipment for nuclear medicine and oncology centre, which will enhance the treatment of cancer.

El-Rufai said that 60% of the personnel will be Nigerians and the expatriates will train local staff so that at after some years, Nigerians will take over the running of the 300-bed Hospital.

Shedding more light on how the hospital will be run, the Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, said that the management will start with 100-bed spaces before increasing the capacity to 300.

The Deputy Governor who is a medical doctor, said that the Specialist Hospital will operate free services at first, before fees will be charged, adding that only cases that defy Teaching Hospitals would be referred to it.

Dr Balarabe said that a Foundation will be set up that will take care of indigent patients, when the hospital starts charging fees. She called on philanthropists to contribute to the Fund, so as to expand access to the Specialist Hospital.

She promised that government will further equip Primary Healthcare Centres and Teaching Hospitals, so that treatment can start from the PHCs, before they are referred to Teaching Hospitals, in order to avoid decongesting the Specialist Hospital.