Bauchi spends N4.4bn on 12 hospitals
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State on Wednesday said that the state government spent more than N4.4 billion to establish 12 hospitals in 2013.
Yuguda announced this while receiving members of the Governing Board of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, who visited him in Bauchi.
He said that hospitals were built to provide access to the citizens of the state, especially the rural people, to quality health care service delivery.
He said that the state government would, this year, complete the construction of two new 110-bed hospitals in Misau and Zaki as well as 60-bed cottage hospitals in Yuguda and Bununu, all at N1 billion.
“The construction of the new Bauchi Specialist Hospital awarded at the cost of N2.5 billion has also reached about 75 per cent completion.
“At the moment, we have over 1,015 health care facilities spread across the state, representing an increase of 30 per cent of what we met on assumption of office in 2007,' he said.
The governor added that the government recruited 900 youths and sent them for training in various aspects of health administration in local and international institutions.
According to him, the training is to provide the state with adequate professional manpower to meet the health needs of the people.
“The young men and women are placed on special salary to study medicine and allied health courses in institutions within and outside the country,' he said.
Yuguda said that 42 of the youth were being trained in Egypt and 20 in Sudan.
He urged the board members to transform the teaching hospital into a world-class tertiary health care institution that would compete with others in the country.
“I assure you that we will give you all the necessary support you need to enable the teaching hospital to train quality health personnel and provide the needed medical services to the entire north-east zone,“ he said.
Earlier, Chairman of the board, Maj.-Gen. S.B. Sa'id, said the board was inaugurated in December 2013 and charged to transform the hospital from a specialist one to a teaching institution.
He, however, lamented that the hospital was yet to receive its take-off grant, adding that it was faced with other challenges, including accommodation and electricity.