Igbawase Ukumba writes that the only tertiary healthcare institution owned by the Nasarawa State goverment, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia, is transitioning to a teaching hospital
Established in 2010, the Federal University of Lafia (FULafia) has since commenced full academic activities in the Faculty of Medicine, therefore, yearning for the establishment of a Federal University of Lafia Teaching Hospital to facilitate commencement of clinical teaching.
When established, the teaching hospital is expected to provide facilities for the training of medical and other students as well as serve as referral centre for other hospitals in the catchment areas.
The teaching hospital will also provide facilities for diagnosis, curative, promotion and rehabilitative services in medical treatment.
The move for the establishment of the Federal University Lafia Teaching Hospital is also informed by the need to bridge the existing gap between primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery in Nasarawa State and Nigeria as a whole.
It was in that order that the erstwhile governor of the state and Senator representing Nasarawa-south in the National Assembly, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, sponsored a bill seeking to the establishment of a Federal University Teaching Hospital in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital. Consequently, the Senate passed the bill into law last year paving the way for the establishment of the Federal University of Lafia Teaching Hospital.
Senators at plenary in their various contributions, spoke glowingly on the desirability and timeliness of the bill and the need for its speedy passage saying it would provide the legal framework for the establishment of the teaching hospital.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, in his ruling committed the bill to the combined committees of Health and Tertiary Education to prepare it for the third and final reading.
The bill, which was subsequently passed at plenary following presentation and consideration of the report of the Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary). Chairman of the Committee, Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC-Kwara), while presenting the report, said the bill to establish the Federal University of Lafia Teaching Hospital was conceived given the precarious health conditions faced by residents.
Acting on it, the government of Nasarawa State consequently donated its only tertiary healthcare institution, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia to the federal government for onward conversion to a teaching hospital for the Federal University of Lafia. To this end, the specialist hospital in the past three years had gone through rapid development phases under the watchful eyes of its Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Hassan Ikrama.
The first phase was the rapid development in almost all sectors. That was when the hospital had unprecedented infrastructure, almost doubling its capacity. At a time, the state government employed about 200 health workers at once, just to mitigate that effect of health worker/patient ratio which was abysmally low. Fatigue was setting in and the hospital was increasing the capacity of its facilities hence needed more healthcare workers.
Speaking when he led Management of the DASH to reward some of its deligent hardworking workers who had worked tirelessly for the state to be able to fight COVID-19 and Lassa fever in Nasarawa State, CMD Hassan Ikrama said: “We needed equipment, and government provided brand new units in the Radiology. Our ICU is completely different from where it was many years ago. Our casualty more than double the capacity.
“In terms of training, we were able to get accreditation in five departments from just one department. And in the last two examinations, we were able to produce six consultants. Another area that we also did very well was in terms of research which was almost non-existent. But we were able to get some fundings for research for the first time. A few of our doctors, nurses, pharmacists, infact it cut across all the departments, were into the research. 15 papers have been published from that effort in the hospital.”
Perhaps, the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital was galloping, then COVID-19 came and everything came to a halt. Hitherto, the hospital had to abandon everything it was doing to race COVID-19 because it was a threat. Workers of healthcare institution had to fight for their lives especially at that time that one didn’t know what the disease was. How it was decimating most developed countries.
“Now that we are out of COVID-19, we are entering a period of transition in the hospital. All of us are aware of our desire to transit from a specialist hospital to a teaching hospital. The state government is leading on this.
” If you listen to the governor’s speech when the president came, it was one of the only three requests he made. The bill has been passed at the National Assembly accepting this place to be a teaching hospital. So we are waiting and praying that it comes to fruition,” Ikrama said.
But before then, what did the management of the DASH needed to do, to prepare? It is conspicuous that DASH had improvement in its infrastructure. It had improvement in manpower. It had improvement in so many areas in the hospital. Therefore, it needed to improve in service delivery efficiency of the service delivery.
How to achieve that, the Chief Medical Director explained: “One of the things that we have done recently is that we set up a committee called reorientation committee, because we have realised that some of our staff; especially the newer staff, knew nothing about civil service role. What does it take to work in a hospital. What should be the attitude of a healthcare worker in a hospital; in relationship to your colleagues and in relationship to our patients.
“So, we set up a committee that organised a training and it has trained 1,800 people in DASH; from the cleaner up to the consultant in the hospital, on our way of working in the hospital. We are hoping that going forward, we are going to see new attitudes to work.
“A new attitude to service delivery. A new attitude with ourselves and with our patients. We are also putting things in place to see how we can improve efficiency in the different departments.”
By and large, one of the problems DASH had been having complaints about was the laboratory and physiology, which the Dr. Ikrama said the hospital management had taken measures to that effect.
One of the measures, according to Ikrama, was the Public Private Partnership that the hospital had gone into. And today the DASH has as part of it, one of the best laboratories in the country partnering with the hospital .
“So, the turn around time for investigation in DASH today has reduced remarkably and it is long that I heard complaints coming from the lab section. And we are doing the same with radiology department. We have just taken delivery of a generator that is almost N25 million, because some of the machines we have required for the use of only generators.
“And one of the innovations is the use of Servicom. We introduced the Servicom Department and it has now been rejuvenated. And one of the trainings that was done was on Servicom in the hospital.
“How can we ensure that we are doing the right thing. If a patient has a problem, where does he go to? How does he get his problem solved? Servicom is the one to solve that problem both for the hospital and the patient,” the DASH CMD maintained.
This was even as the CMD continued that the hospital has also introduced the patient welfare unit. Adding that management of the hospital has incorporated almost all staff from the various departments to the Patient Welfare Unit.
Nevertheless, one of the problems people used to have in the past was that if you don’t know anybody in DASH, you find difficulties in getting services, hence the Welfare Unit is supposed to be that person that one suppose to know to get that service.
Perhaps, it could be a deliberate effort to put the DASH edifice in tune with a teaching hospital prerequisites that management of the hospital recently rewarded some of its deligent hardworking workers who had worked tirelessly for the state to be able to fight COVID-19 and Lassa fever.
The event which took place at the conference hall of the hospital, also gave posthumous awards to relations of some of the hospital’s workers who lost their lives when fighting to save lives of patients contracted with either the COVID-19 or Lassa fever pandemics.
In his speech, the Chief Medical Director said: “We in Nasarawa State rose up to the occasion. The management of COVID-19, especially, was superb and we received commendation from NCDC on how we were able to manage the pandemic in the state. Infact, we have reached a stage where patients were being referred from Abuja to Lafia when it came to management of COVID-19. We couldn’t have achieved this without the selfless and dedication exhibited by all workers.”
Therefore, the CMD maintained that the management of DASH definitely had to have the event so as to serve as a forum for the hospital management to show appreciation for the hardwork that some workers had all put in, and to ginger other workers so that they can also work harder.
Also speaking at the award night was the paramount ruler of Azara Chiefdom, Dr. Kabir Musa Ibrahim, who said the Dalhatu Araf healthcare institution was so strategic because of the general saying that “Health Is Wealth”. To the Sarkin Azara, it appeared that health workers are the most important personnel within a setting of any community, because if people are sick, there is nothing they can do. So, recognition of people that put a lot of work in trying to see that the system works was not an ordinary event.
Dr. Ibrahim, who is also a consultant in the DASH, added: “I want to use this opportunity and congratulate those that have put as much as they could to ensure that this establishment is carried to the greater heights. And I urge that they will continue to keep to the momentum.
“The point I want to make here is that we are all religious people; wether you are a Muslim or Christian. This work we are doing here cannot be paid to us here on earth. The Koran has said that whatever little you have done, you will get the reward in the hereafter, wether it is positive or negative. So we have to be working not only to get our reward here. We have to work judiciously to get our reward, most especially to the hereafter.”
The paramount ruler of the Azara Chiefdom, therefore, hoped that as health workers, they should always remember that in their minds that they are not only working to get paid. But the Almighty will give them rewards more than what they were seeing.
Speaking on behalf of those that received the awards, Dr. Esther Audu, thanked management of the DASH for finding them worthy to get the awards. Dr Audu, however, observed that the task for the award exercise must have been a hurcalean task for the merit award committee to have sifted out a few from the many hard working staff of the hospital.
“To those that couldn’t get an award and are very hard working, I want to tell you that those of us that have gotten awards are standing here representing you. I plead that you continue with your hardwork. You should know that service to humanity is also service to God, and God is going to reward us eventually wether you get an award here or not.
“To those of us that have gotten award, this is a call to humility. You are not better than others. You have been selected, but you are not better than others. Let’s be humble and probably, let’s do more. Let’s be dedicated and help others to also come up. Those that we found weak in our departments, let’s help them to also do better in their work,” Dr. Esther appealed.
