By Callistus Agwaza, in Jalingo
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Federal University, Wukari Teaching Hospital (FUWTH), Prof. Daniel Egah, has lamented that delays in the release of takeoff grant for the hospital by the federal government is stalling its progress.
Speaking in an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Jalingo, Egah lamented that FUWTH is the only hospital among the
seven general hospitals upgraded to teaching hospitals by the federal government, but had not receive take off grant.
He commended the Taraba state government and other stakeholders in the state, for facilitating the smooth takeoff of the hospital.
He said, his vision is to make the teaching hospital an excellent health facility that will drastically discourage medical tourism.
He added that he intends to make the hospital a training ground to check massive migration of trained doctors to oversee as well as establish a research facility that will ensure ground breaking discoveries that will address perculiar health challenges in the country.
Egah urged the federal government to expedite actions on the release of the funds.
He said, “I must commend the Taraba tate governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas for showing so much interest in this project.
“He has been of tremendous help right from the onset and has not relented even as we speak.
“As we speak, we are yet to receive take off grant from the federal government. That means we would have been at a point where nothing would be happening practically.
“So when we came on board, I engaged with him and other stakeholders”.
Speaking further, Egah said, the governor donated ₦50m to the hospital which was used to put things in place.
He disclosed that the governor has also agreed to continue the payment of the staff saleries inherited from the general hospital, even after the expiration of the six months that was agreed upon.
“We also had the issue of mobility, when he got to know about it, he gave us a brand new Hilux van that has made movement relatively easier.
“There is so much we need to do at this initial stage to set the pace but all these depends on the what we get from the federal government. Even now, you can see that the place is already wearing a new look all together.
“We intend collaborating with the primary and secondary health care facilities in the state to avoid a situation where the facility will be overwhelmed.
“Currently, we are making arrangements for about 20 specialists in various fields to come from Jos.
“This is very important for us. The problem is that we need to secure their accommodation and that will require about ₦21m.
“We also have a number of things that needs to be sorted out but they are all delayed because of delay from the federal government”, Egah said.