By Michael Nnebife
The Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Regina Caeli Specialist Hospital, Awka, Rev Fr Innocent Affusim, says the hospital has recorded significant successes following the inauguration of the ultramodern health equipment in the Hospital last year in its bid to deliver optimal health services to the people of Anambra State.
The Manager stated this in a chat with our reporter on the impact of the newly commissioned ultramodern health equipment in the hospital last year.
Recall that the Proprietor of the Hospital and the Catholic Bishop, Diocese of Awka, Most Rev Dr Paulinus Ezeokafor, commissioned the Radiology Complex that houses X-ray and Eye Units with many equipment in the hospital in April 2023.
Alongside the complex, the Bishop commissioned other ultramodern health equipment which included endoscopy and colposcopy machines for the treatment of ulcer, and screening of cervical cancer on pregnant women, respectively.
The Manager explained that the equipment, especially the endoscope and the colposcope, aided in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.
‘For example, sometimes, ailments some of the patients take conventionally as ulcer, are not real ulcer, but might be another ailment such as gastroenteritis,’ he said.
According to him, ‘The endoscopy machine diagnoses whether an ailment is ulcer, exact type of ulcer, and helps in precision and exact treatment of ulcer.
‘The other equipment, colposcope, is for screening of cancer for pregnant women. It is prevalent today for women to have cervical cancer. With our colposcopy machine, we are able to examine them to determine if a person has the tendency of the disease.
‘If the person is prone to cancer, or has it in the early stage, it will be easily treated. We have had so many cases whereby the patients who underwent that procedure came out positive. And we handled the cases very well. So, we have recorded significant successes there,’ Rev Fr Affusim said.
He however, decried inadequate funds and high rate of inability of many patients to afford the payment of the services, a situation, he described as a challenge, facing the health facility.
‘Some patients who would want to access the services don’t. This is because they don’t have enough money to pay for the services due to their high cost and the hard economic situation in the country. So, we have a challenge of payment and funds,’ the CEO said.
He therefore, appealed to public spirited individuals and philanthropists to come to the aid of the hospital in the form of subsidizing the services.
‘For instance, we also have Dialysis Unit. There are so many patients who have kidney failure.
‘Sometimes they need to be dialysized twice or three times in a week, but because they don’t have money, you see them coming once in a week or two weeks.
‘So, we are appealing to public spirited individuals and philanthropists to support us to subsidize the cost so that patients who are in need of these services can easily come in and receive them at affordable price.
‘Many also have eye surgery that requires series of investigation, money and eyeglasses too, but because they don’t have money, they don’t come for the surgery,’ the Manager said.
He recalled government’s support during the Governor Peter Obi Administration and appealed to the Chukwuma Soludo Government to help the hospital, including other mission and private hospitals in the state. He expressed optimism that if this was done as obtained in the Obi Administration, it would go a long way in enabling the hospitals to serve Anambra residents better in health care delivery.
‘During the time of Peter Obi, the government was so strongly behind, not just mission hospitals, but also other hospitals, including government owned ones. It improved standard of the health sector in the state then.
‘Down to the immediate past Administration of Governor Willie Obiano, we received the government support with some funds only once.
‘But since the inception of the present administration, we have not received any support from the government.
‘Though few days ago, we were given one small oxygen cylinder. If I’m not mistaken, that is the only support we have gotten from the present government.
‘So, we are hoping and appealing to the government to support us because the patients we are treating are ndi Anambra whom the government owes responsibility to take care of,’ Rev Fr Affusim said, arguing that the mission hospitals were helping the government to carry out its responsibility.
