By Godwin Anene
Ahead of its three years anniversary, the management of Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) has said the institution was fast becoming destination haven for medical tourists especially in the Niger Delta region
The Chief Medical Director, RSUTH, Dr Friday Aaron, who stated this, thanked the Rivers State governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, for his phenomenal transformation of the institution within three years of existence.
Dr. Aaron noted that Governor Wike’s resolved to create a teaching hospital that will deliver first-class medical services to the people of the state and the entire Niger Delta region was responsible for the growth and development of the centre.
The CMD in a statement signed by the Ag. Director of Administration, RSUTH, Mr. Okechuku Chukuigwe, noted that with 375-bed facility run by 731 medical personnel spread across twelve medical and four support services departments, the hospital was etching its name in gold already in Nigeria’s medical community.
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“We thank the State Governor for his vision of transforming the former Braithwaite Specialist Hospital into a full fledge teaching hospital for the training of medical students and other health professionals from the Rivers State University.
“This has been three years of monumental milestones capped by the flag of the construction of a renal centre. We can only match the passion of the governor with our dedication to give the best in service to the state and beyond,” Dr Aaron said.
According to him, Rivers government under the leadership of Governor Wike has upgraded infrastructure and provided 21st century state-of-the-art medical equipment for the people of the state and beyond.
“The law establishing the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital bestows on it the mandate of providing teaching, researching and health services beyond the level of a general hospital that the former Braithwaite Specialist Hospital had.
“To match the new scope of activities of the hospital, the Rivers State Government embarked on extensive upgrade of infrastructure, recruitment of personnel and the supply of state-of-the art medical equipment.
“We boast of about the best radiology unit in this whole region, through the instrumentality of the state governor who has shown genuine interest in quality healthcare delivery. On our part, we are recreating ways of achieving patient satisfaction by retraining, process improvement and system optimisation.
“RSUTH is fast transforming into a centre of excellence for the training of health care professionals and the delivery of quality tertiary health services through several innovations—corporate branding; deliberate change management and rapid infrastructural development”, CMD added.
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While reeling out some of the achievements recorded in the last three years, Dr. Aaron to include the rollout of the hospital’s first ever Vision, Mission and Core Values; the construction of critical facilities previously lacking and renovation of existing ones; the digitisation—e-consultation, e-registration and online intern assessment.
Others are the multiple payment options including USSD; the introduction of continuous training and welfare packages for the hospital’s workforce; the realignment of the hospital’s leadership structure, standardising organogram and introduction of RSUTH’s five-year strategic plan and the improved patient satisfaction as direct fallout of the introduction of first ever clinical Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all RSUTH service providers.
Also, the elimination of miscommunication and compliance failures through workflow redefinition, the successful accreditation of courses of the Rivers State University College of Medical Sciences for the MBBS programme; the reaccreditation of departments by the Post-graduate Medical Colleges; the payment of Residency training Grants to residents resulting in better performance in various Fellowship examinations of the West African and National Post-graduate Medical Colleges and 24-hour power supply in the hospital.
