By Abiodun Azi
The Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited on Monday inaugurated an Obstetrics & Gynaecology Ward at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project is part of Phase 1 projects in NLNG’s multi billion naira Hospital Support Programme (NLNG HSP) in the states of Lagos, Kano, Bayelsa and Cross River.
Speaking at the inauguration, Dr Phillip Mshelbila, Managing Director, NLNG, said that the next sets of inaugurations would be an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Yenagoa.
“Also, an Occupational Therapy and Neuromodulation Rehabilitation Centre at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano; and a Neurosurgical and Stroke Centre at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.
“The commissioning of projects began in 2022 with the opening of a Maternity Centre at University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada and a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
“These teaching hospitals were selected in the first phase. The programme targets 12 hospitals in total from the six geographical zones in the country.
“The NLNG Hospital Support Programme (HSP) is NLNG’s national Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative which aims to boost the healthcare delivery system in 12 Federal University Teaching Hospitals cutting across the six geopolitical zones in the country.
“The programme started in 2022,” he said.
Mshelbila was represented by Andy Odeh, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development.
Mshelbila said that the goal of the project was to support the provision of quality medical care for Nigerians.
This would be through the improvement of tertiary healthcare delivery system in the country with attendant impacts on medical research and retention of in-country medical expertise.
He said the company had helped in reshaping the country’s health sector for a better and more responsive system on the road to making it a destination for world-class healthcare delivery.
He, therefore, called on LUTH’s management to ensure that the facilities were put to practical use for patients and training purposes.
In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, stated that NLNG had proven to be a reliable partner in the sustainable development of the healthcare system in the country.
Ehanire, who was represented by the Minister of State for Health, Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, thanked the initiators of the project noting that it would go a long way to better the lot of Nigerians.
NAN also reports that the newly commissioned LUTH project entailed the complete renovation and upgrade of the Obstetrics & Gynaecology (Ward C) Block, a four-storey building.
This is with the provision of 120 beds to serve the prenatal and postnatal services.
Other facilities include a waiting room, nurses stations, private wards, consulting rooms, radiation room, and doctors and nurses call rooms, among other facilities.
Earlier, Alhaji Isa Sali, Board Chairman, LUTH, said that the renovation and equipping of the ward was sponsored by the NLNG as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“It was also as a mark of appreciation with recent salutary developments in the hospital.’’
According to Sali, the project execution through the CSR assumes a new dimension in public service delivery not only for visibility purposes but more importantly as a means of paying back to society.
(NAN)
