By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) is witnessing a growing influx of patients from neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic, seeking specialised medical treatment.
Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, disclosed this on Friday while conducting journalists round the 850-bed tertiary hospital, where 10 wards and several theatres have recently been remodelled.
He said the Federal Government had in recent times focused attention on the hospital with the release of substantial funds for the purchase of modern medical equipment and other facilities aimed at improving healthcare delivery.
According to him, UCTH remains the only tertiary health institution serving the whole of Cross River State, in addition to attending to patients from neighbouring states and countries.
“We are the only hospital that serves the whole of Cross River State at tertiary level. In addition, we get patients from neighbouring states. We even get patients from neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic,” he said.
Prof. Ikpeme explained that many foreign patients visit the hospital for hip and knee replacements, brain tumour surgeries, keyhole surgeries and other specialist procedures unavailable in their countries.
He noted that the increasing number of patients has created space constraints within the hospital, adding that management had commenced expansion projects to address the challenge.
“This is why we are trying to increase our capacity with the construction of another 406-bed Department of Emergency Medicine. It will contain a trauma bay, medical and surgical bays, male, female and children wards, a six-bed Intensive Care Unit, a neonatal intensive care unit and three large trauma theatres,” he stated.
The CMD said UCTH had maintained a comparative advantage in specialised medicine due to its modern equipment, skilled personnel and advanced training.
“Take orthopaedics for instance, we do knee replacements, arthroscopy and sports medicine. We can replace the anterior cruciate ligament because we have the equipment, personnel and training.
“We also carry out keyhole surgeries. If your uterus is giving you problems, we can remove it through a one-centimetre incision using cameras and telescopes. Even appendix surgeries can be done and the patient discharged the following day,” he said.
The journalists were shown round some of the remodeled wards, theatres and refurbished halls, offices and general reception halls, which the CMD profusely commended the federal government.
He said the plan is to refurbish the entire facility but appeals to stakeholders and even private citizens to equally identify projects which, of course, would be named after them on completion.
He said many of the remodeled wards are named after former or senior colleagues who had invested their entire professional lives in the facility to heal patients and mentor younger generations.
That way, he believed, their legacies would truly be indelible.
