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The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Professor Darlington Obaseki, on Wednesday said that in spite of the mass exodus of medical personnel, as one of the challenges confronting health care delivery in the nation, the teaching hospital had been able to deliver on the mandates of the founding fathers of the hospital.
Professor Obaseki, who spoke at a press conference held to herald the 50th anniversary of UBTH, which was founded on May 12, 1973, noted that much as the previous managements of the institution had shown fidelity to the goals set by the pioneers of the teaching hospital, there was the need to prepare for the next 50 years so that the hospital would be able to stand as one-stop hospital for health care services.
According to the professor of Pathology, the nation’s “health care delivery system faces existential threat today as the mass exodus of medical personnel is one of the greatest challenges faced by the system. But even at that, we cannot afford to let down our guard and fail the people”
“Our mandate is a tripod of one, providing best health care delivery service to the people; two, train medical personnel and three, to be able to do high level research and proffer solutions to local problems. So far, we have expanded the mandates of the founding fathers and as of today, we have expanded the 300-bed capacity at inception to over 900 and the hospital is over subscribed. The people of the region have benefitted immensely”, he enthused.
To underscore the scope of the health care services rendered by the hospital, the CMD said that the UBTH “receives about 83 medical referrals from different healthcare facilities thus making UBTH as the last bus stop as far as healthcare delivery is concerned. There is no area of health care intervention that UBTH is not involved in”.
Professor Obaseki also announced that the teaching hospital had also gotten the approval for Residency Training Programme in Emergency Medicine, saying that was novel in the history of teaching hospitals across the country.
He noted that his administration, which came on board five years ago, had been able to move the hospital “from analogue form of operation to a computerised system of operation. All our clinics and service points are computerised end-to-end supported by fibre optics cables running through the length and breadth of the hospital”.
Professor Obaseki announced that maternal mortality figures in the teaching hospital had dropped drastically “as the figures show that no woman, who registers in our ante-natal clinic dies during childbirth”.
“This occasion of our golden jubilee will afford us another opportunity to give back to the society through several engagements and interventions. The theme of the golden jubilee celebrations is Advancing the Legacy of Quality Healthcare, and we will focus on collaborations in three strategic reform areas: infrastructural upgrade, comprehensive cancer care (Project Hope), and comprehensive cardiology centre.
“We are hopeful that we can achieve the above and when we do, we would have put UBTH on the global map of international competitiveness. The future looks bright and we call on all and sundry to join us and support this worthy cause in whatever capacity you can so that in another 50 years, when the next generation looks at what we did, they will be proud of us”, the CMD pleaded.
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