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By Mike ALADENIKA.
Edo state government has cleared the air on rumors making the rounds about the proposed reconstruction of the centenarian state Specialist hospital in Benin.
Addressing newsmen in Benin, Edo State health commissioner, Professor (Mrs) Obehi Akoria said "the structure of the hospital, which is about a hundred years old, is too old for a modern day Medicare services, stressing that it demands a complete overhaul to give way for a modern structure, modern facilities and modern day services.
The commissioner said "the challenges thrown up by covid-19 pandemic consumed part of Stella Obasanjo hospital, which necessitated the government's quest to embark on constructing more structure at the hospital to accommodate whatever shortcomings the covid-19 pandemic may have caused the hospital.
The government also debunked the fear that healthcare may become inaccessible to the poor adding that it would explore all existing health policies and programmes that will “take care of the poorest of the poor.”
Reacting to the insinuation about the demolition of parts of the Central Hospital which some say
may be turned into a park, Edo State Commissioner for Health, Professor (Mrs) Obehi Akoria said that with the COVID-19 that has changed global narratives, Stella Obasanjo which was closed to its normal hospital activities to strictly COVID-19 treatments was being rebuilt to be restored to its original activities.
According to Prof. Akoria, "What we are doing is this; Edo State has Edo Health Insurance Commission, Edo State has Edo Health Insurance Scheme with various packages, all designed to accommodate the needs of various people in our heterogeneous population.
"We have stationed about ten teams right there between Stella Obasanjo and Central Hospital and as patients come, they are accessing the team because there is something called the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund which is supposed to cater for the healthcare needs of the poorest of the poor via insurance and our people are already paying for insurance.
"The federal government has provided some funding, the state government has its own counterpart funding and there are many mechanisms that are on ground that will take care of the health needs of different strata of the population and for the very poorest of the poor. Basic Healthcare Provision Fund ensures that they get minimum package of healthcare without having to pay anything.
On the relocation of the hospital, Prof. Akoria said the hospital is being moved to the ultra modern Edo Specialist Hospital. “In recent time, anybody who has been to the Central Hospital will see the state of the structure, infrastructure and service provision, so the decision to upgrade healthcare for the citizens meant that there has to be a lateral phased movement of services from Central Hospital to Edo Specialist Hospital. That is where we are right now and we have been managing that to ensure that disruption of services is minimised and that we are available to respond to the obvious challenges that will arise as quickly as possible.”
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