NAN-HG-9
Hospital
Uyo, Nov. 16, 2016 (NAN) The management of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) has attributed its inability to complete several projects started six years ago to paucity of funds.
The UUTH Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Etete Peters, said this on Wednesday in Uyo when he received the Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (PRC), Mr Victor Muruako.
Peters identified the uncompleted projects to include the General Out-Patient Block and the Radiology/C.T Scan Building.
He said that N56 million was required to complete the General Out-Patient Block, which has 30 consulting rooms, three seminar rooms, a conference room and a central medical record library.
The CMD said that the Radiology/C.T Scan Building started in 2011, had provision for 68-slice C.T Scan, digital x-ray, fluoroscopy machine, mammography machine and echocardiography/ultrasonography suites.
He explained that the Radiology/C.T Scan building was 68 per cent completed and would require N54.7 million to complete work.
The CMD also said that the mortuary needed expansion and upgrade of facilities especially in Histopathology.
Peters complained that the delay in the completion of these projects resulted to an upward review of the contract sum due to the high cost of building materials.
“We have an average out-patient population of about 11, 500 per month. It is the only tertiary institution serving four million people in Akwa Ibom.
“We have increased the bed space from 200 that we had in 2008 to over 500 in 2016.
“The administrative block has laboratories in the ground and first floors; it hazardous to sit on top of laboratories. This is our dilemma,” Peters said.
The CMD said that he was delighted at the visit, adding that he would like to complete all ongoing projects before the expiration of his tenure next year.
Responding, Muruako, said that the team was at UUTH to verify all capital projects, their implementation and challenges.
He said that the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 empowered the commission to compel any person or government institutions to disclose information relating to public revenues and expenditure.
Muruako said that under the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, the people also had the right to question how government funds had been spent on projects.
“We are to prevent corruption and cause things to move in proper perspective according to budgetary provisions.”
Muruako, who undertook inspection of the uncompleted projects at the hospital, commended the CMD for trying to expand infrastructure at the hospital.
He promised to let the Presidency and the Federal Ministry of Health know about the plight of the hospital. (NAN)
BB/NKO/NKO
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