…Digitization of Radiology Department from Hitherto Analogue Style of Scanning
…Secures Accreditation for ESUT School of Nursing After 8 years of De-accreditation
By Emmanuel Ike-Jonathan, JP.
The Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parklane metamorphosed from the then Nursing Home established in 1930 to a first class hospital for government officials and elites in 1952. However, during the Nigerian civil war which occurred in 1967-1970, the hospital was converted to a general hospital where persons with varying degrees of injuries were treated.
Within a period of fifteen years (1970 – 1985), gradual and progressive expansion of the hospital led to the establishment of Surgical, Maternity, Pediatrics facilities in 1985 and was then approved for the training of house officers. It became a Specialist Hospital in November 2005 and then upgraded to a Teaching Hospital in May 2006 under the administration of Senator Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani.
Ever since then, the vision of the ESUT Teaching Hospital, which is to develop a teaching hospital of international standard and repute where the mix of health education and health care services are adequately addressed has been vigorously pursued by the administration of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Upon assumption of office as the Executive Governor of Enugu State in 2015, Gov. Ugwuanyi assured Ndi Enugu of his administration’s readiness to provide quality and affordable healthcare services to the state through the provision of modern health care facilities. They include, but not limited to, the provision of infrastructure, medical equipment, employment of health personnel to address the issue of inadequate health workers across the state health facilities, training and retraining of health personnel to improve their knowledge and skills in line with improved modern ways of treatment. It is therefore pertinent to note that five years down the line, the Governor has lived up to the promises he made.
In a bid to actualize the lofty dreams he has for the health sector in the state, Gov. Ugwuanyi, appointed a thorough bred professional and a renowned Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Professor Hyacinth E. Onah, as the Chief Medical Director (C.M.D) of the ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane and other highly experienced technocrats as board members to pilot the affairs of the hospital. The Board is chaired by Prof. Ed. Nwobodo, a renowned national and international figure in the field of medicine.
The Board of ESUT Teaching Hospital whose members were appointed in October 2016 alongside the Management identified a lot of challenges in the ESUTTH including fraudulent acts by the Staff. These fraudsters have been fished out and treated according to Civil Service Rules and many of them have been dismissed from service. Although the issue of fraud in the health institution has not been completely eliminated, it has been reduced to the barest minimum. The current Board and Management also inherited an Electronic Health Information Management System (EHIMS) with tenure of ten years ending in 2022.
In a chat with the Chief Medical Director, he gave a detailed information on the achievements of the Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parkalne from 2015 to date adding, “the administration of Gov Ugwuanyi faced the problem of accreditation hitherto affecting the activities of the Teaching Hospital with the seriousness it deserves and within the period under review, the State Government and Management Board of the institution secured re-accreditation for the School of Nursing after eight years of closure. The first accreditation for Anesthetic Residency training programme and re-accreditation of various other Residency programmes including Surgery, Ophthalmology and Internal Medicine were all secured.
The CMD said that in line with the wise saying that a well-motivated work force is an asset and indispensable in the execution of the programmes of the hospital, the state government under the current administration placed the welfare of workers of the hospital on the front burner and went ahead to regularize the appointments of 42 hospital casual workers and also conducted and released the promotion of staff that were in arrears of five years and equally maintained regular payment of their salaries to date.
In the areas of infrastructure, medical equipment and consumables, he disclosed that ESUT Teaching Hospital under the current administration of Gov. Ugwuanyi, received a boost and facelift to address the health care needs of patients. His Excellency constructed a two-storey building for laboratory extension; an incinerator for disposal of wastes, and modernized the hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Other interventions made by the current administration according to the CMD include the procurement of two modern ambulances, a car for the Principal of School of Nursing as well as various state-of-the-art medical equipment to ensure quality service delivery of the state’s highest health institution. The hospital, which offers undergraduate and post-graduate training for health professionals in addition to delivery of specialist care to the people, has not been left out as it has continued to receive the much-needed government support and attention from the Gov Ugwuanyi led administration to make it very effective and of international standard.
The age-long challenge of lack of adequate power supply to ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane has become a thing of the past as the current administration in the state procured and installed 800KVA and 1000KVA power generating plant making the hospital to now boast of uninterrupted power supply. According to Engr. Sunday Nnaji, the Head of Department of Works, the hospital has not experienced power outage beyond four minutes since 2017 that the said power generating plants were procured in the hospital adding, “Once there is a power outage in the hospital from the national grid, we immediately switch on to the alternate power which is either of the 800KVA and 1000KVA power generating plant.
Another major achievement at ESUT Teaching Hospital under Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration is the procurement of 64 slide CT scan. The said CT scan is very useful in the hospital as it provides more detailed information than plain X-rays do. Speaking with the Head of Department of Radiology, ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Dr. Chinenye Ani, who started by thanking His Excellency the Executive Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for his interventions in the radiology department, said that all the interventions carried out by the governor in the radiology were informed by the governor’s plans of meeting the yearnings of the poor who cannot afford the cost of the different types of scanning activities in private hospitals.
Dr. Ani said, “We have gone to a different platform of operation since Gov. Ugwuanyi came on board. We have gone digital. Prior to the emergence of Gov Ugwuanyi, all the machines in this department were analogue. But we have entered the digital age with the help of Gov Ugwuanyi. For example, we are able to digitize some of our activities using a gadget that is called a digitizer for our film processing. We are able to do computed radiography now. Also even in the field of ultra-sound, we have received a machine that has double facilities. There is also a machine we have now that is almost self-automated. And that is also another realm in that digital platform.
“We are equally expecting a state-of-the art Computer Tomographine machine called CT machine. No teaching hospital can pride itself of being a teaching hospital without the presence of a CT scan machine. And Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (without sounding as if I am saying what he has not done) on his own self recognition, championed the provision of a computed tomography machine 64 slides CT scanner. That machine has been ordered and it is now expected to be installed and commissioned before the end of this year.
“We are actually emphasizing that since the Governor made a statement that it is his desire that the machine will be provided for the poor, we shall do everything possible to make the cost very affordable for the poor and the less privileged persons in the state. To quote his own words “Ka anyi tinye ofu machine maka umu ogbenye:” Those who were around heard him make this statement clearly. It shows the kind of heart he has for the people he governs. The Governor himself will commission that machine. The request for the supply of the machine has been ordered and it is coming.
Dr Ani who said that the machine is a multi-dollar machine and the first of its kind to be installed in Enugu State at a tertiary teaching hospital level, disclosed that the location where the machine will be situated in the hospital, will represent the image of Governor Ugwuanyi adding “Indeed, we are intending to name that particular location Gburus CT Scan Room. And I tell you, this department of radiology will continue to be eternally grateful to be the first to have this type of machine situated right here.
“I want this information to be captured in this interview. We are determined to name that place where the CT scan procured by this administration will be situated after Governor Ugwuanyi. This is because regimes have come and gone without them actualizing this giant stride. We want everybody to know that it is Governor Ugwuanyi who gave us that machine after years of outcry without the previous administrations heeding to our request”.
Despite the inadequate finances which has been one of the major challenges facing most of the public and private establishments in the state, especially with the present economic downturn due to fall in oil price globally and the COVID-19 pandemic which the Teaching Hospital is not immune to, it is interesting to note that with prudent management of finances accruing to the hospital under the trusted Board and Management Team appointed by Gov Ugwuanyi, there is an increase in the internally generated revenue (IGR) and service delivery in the hospital which has aided the purchase of AGFA DS – D500 digital Radiography machine worth 32 million naira, among other facilities. It is also interesting to note that with the increase in the Hospitals IGR, the Board and Management were able to liquidate the debt of one hundred and ten million naira (N110, 000, 000.00) it inherited due to unpaid bills to contractors and frauds from several cartels formed by the staff.
The CMD also reported a rise in the patient turnover of the hospital from 4,000 to 13,000 patients per month and an increase in the pass rate of candidates at post-graduate examinations in the past three years.
This is why ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane has also been able to nurture numerous numbers of Consultants completely trained in the institution for the first time. It is to the credit of the current administration of Gov. Ugwuanyi that the ESUT Teaching Hospital was able to organize two public lectures and maintained several collaborations with some National and International institutions in the United States of America, Germany and World Health Organization (WHO) for the training of her Consultants and Residents Doctors. Several facilities of the Teaching Hospital have been digitalized, MDCAN Lounge rehabilitated and the Doctors salaries is currently at par with their counterparts in the Federal Service. The Drug Revolving Fund is currently working. The School of Midwifery has had 100% pass rate for the past three years.
The Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration has truly walked the talk by ensuring that effective teaching and research works in ESUT Teaching hospital is the best way of building the capacity of Parklane to an enviable height.
Over the last three years, available records have shown that Governor Ugwuanyi has personally settled the medical bills of over 500 patients admitted in ESUT teaching hospital Parklane and his wife, Her Excellency, Mrs. Monica Ugwuanyi through her pet project Ugo’s Touch of Life Foundation (U-TOLF) donated an equipment (Colposcope) for detecting and treating cancer of the cervix (Cancer of the neck of the womb).
According to Wikipedia, leadership encompasses the ability of an individual or organization to “lead” or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations to achieve a laid down objectives. Leadership is also said to be “the ability to harness human and material resources in the direction of peace, harmony, equity and justice with the vision of achieving economic progress, human development and advancement of society”. It is therefore important to note that the tremendous achievements recorded in the ESUT Teaching Hospital under Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration wouldn’t have been possible without a dependable Board and Management brought onboard to manage the affairs of the hospital.
The CMD’s appointment has been described by many as one of the best appointments the Governor Ugwuanyi administration has made. This is because he is a man who from every accepted indices and indication is unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence and legacies that will definitely outlive him in the discharge of his professional callings and service to God and humanity.
Right from the first day he assumed office in the hospital in December 2017, about three years now, the CMD, has remained committed to his duties and sees his appointment as a call to render efficient services and more importantly live up to the expectations of the Governor in managing the affairs of this highest health institution of the state and one of the oldest in South East Nigeria. Prof Onah’s programmes are anchored on Governor Ugwuanyi’s efforts to take ESUT Teaching hospital to enviable heights and actualize the objectives of the hospital.
There’s no doubt that his enviable track record in administration and medical profession sufficiently prepared him for the enormous task he has been saddled with. With these litany of achievements so far recorded by the Ugwuanyi administration in this Health Institution in the state, there is no gainsaying the fact that at the end of the day, ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane will be ranked first among equals in the history of Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria and beyond. No doubt also, Ndi Enugu applauds the support given by the people-oriented Governor towards making the hospital very efficient and functional health facility it has become.
A chat with a female patient at the maternity ward who refused her name on print, further showcased how happy the people are over the improved medical services being rendered by ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane as a result of the modern medical equipment and other innovations and boosts being injected in the hospital by the Gov. Ugwuanyi led administration.
Responding to questions on what was happening at the School of Nursing ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane, an elated Mrs. Abigail Ude-Nebonta, who is the principal of the school, said that the school which was initially accredited in 1999 lost accreditation from 2012-2019, but was able to be re-accredited in June 2019 through the unflinching supports and efforts of the Governor Ugwuanyi led administration which provided all that was needed for the accreditation to be successful.
According to the Principal, “If the Governor did not do anything, we won’t be here because the funds were assessed by the Management of ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane under this administration and of course it meant the fund came from Enugu State Government. So we owe our thanks to our Governor. Ndi Igbo si na adi arapu isi aka agba uriom. The money did not fall from heaven. It came from Enugu State Government under this administration. And the Enugu State Governor we know now is our own person. And that is His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Executive Governor of Enugu State. We appreciate him. He is Nke Anyi in the real sense of the word. That was why he worked and gave it to us. We do not have this kind of opportunity to express our gratitude but we are using this platform to appreciate him for all his efforts towards ensuring that we secure accreditation and also the beautiful official vehicle which was bought for the office of the principal.
“We actually got approval for the money to finish up this in the past administration. The building where we are now was started then. But at the verge of our assessing the fund for the accreditation processes, the issue of cash squeeze came in and we could not access the funds needed from the past administration. The next year, we were able to get back to it again but unfortunately, we did not get the accreditation. There was even a time the Governor’s wife came visiting. When the then CMAC presented the case, she was sympathetic about it. And I know that as a woman, she must have done something on that by drawing the Governor’s attention to it. So our credit goes to God and then to the Governor who has changed our story. But honestly speaking, most commissioners, about three commissioners of health that worked with Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration all did their part towards this success.
“To be candid, I am very happy with these successes recorded; most times, I can’t cease thanking God for making us gain accreditation. I answered so many names because I wanted this accreditation at all cost. It is actually the first school of nursing we can say we have to ourselves in Enugu state. It is true that we have school of post basic midwifery in Parklane, then basic Midwifery school in Awgu, and also the Shanahan School of Nursing in Nsukka. But it is good to know that ESUT School of Nursing is actually the main nursing school Enugu state government can boast of owning. They own it. This is their own. The UNTH School of Nursing is being shared by states around here because it is a Federal institution. The Mission has a hand at the Shanahan School of nursing, Nsukka. So, Enugu state government has to do everything possible to take the affairs of the ESUT School of nursing very serious.
“When I took over as the Principal of the school, the school had lost already accreditation. So, that was a very big challenge. Having to start administration at a point when there was no accreditation, we were not doing anything. We were just going to the ministry, to the commissioner for health, the CMD and other offices responsible for the accreditation. As a result of this, I have been able to work with about three commissioners of health, then two board chairmen and two CMDs of Parklane. It was not easy when you think about the transition. When a board chairman completes his tenure, you go to a new board chairman; it is the same thing with the CMD, same thing with the permanent secretaries and the commissioners. For me, it was a rough road.”
Mrs. Ude-Nebonta however said that though ESUT School of Nursing has secured their accreditation, there would be a repeat of accreditation by 2021 for the full accreditation because the accreditation they secured was only provisional adding that, “apart from the full accreditation, the other problem facing the school is the limited quota they have for admission”.
She explained that, “the only quota they have for admission is 50 slots which implies that even if we have 1000 people wishing to gain admission into our school, we will only give only 100 candidates admission. At the end of the first semester, which is the first six months, we will only select the best 50 and submit to the council. So that quota is too small for the state. Some states have 75, some have 100, and at least we need to go up”.
The Principal said that the only way this problem can be permanently addressed is by accepting the offer of the Nurses and Midwifery Council on changing the nomenclature of school of nursing to colleges of nursing adding that with this development, the students will be graduating with HND certificates under NBTE or B.sc if they are affiliated to Universities revealing that under this arrangement, “ESUT School of nursing can admit enough students as possible since they already have accreditation which is the key. The only thing they need now is to think about an enabling law that will establish that school as a college. The Nursing and midwifery council of Nigeria has said that whenever they are ready, they should invite the NBTE for initial assessment and they will kick start the HND or B.Sc programme”.
In conclusion, Governor Ugwuanyi has remarkably improved the healthcare delivery at ESUT Teaching Hospital over the last five years of his administration.
Ike-Jonathan, JP, writes from Alor-Agu in Igbo-Eze South LGA, Enugu State.
