NDDC Woos Partners for Top-notch Hospital
Barring any hitches in the course of the ongoing groundwork, work on a first-class hospital that would also develop the capacity of the Niger Delta people in healthcare delivery could commence within one year.
In a bid to fill the identified need for a top-notch hospital in the region, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has started preliminary discussions and search for partners on the project.
Managing Director/CEO of the NDDC, Mr. Chibuzor Ugwoha, who lamented the absence of a state of the art hospital in the Niger Delta when a delegation of Omma Healthcare, LLC, from the United States, and their strategic partners visited the Commission's headquarters in Port Harcourt, stressed that provision of qualitative healthcare to the people of the region is an imperative.
He said: “We believe that health is wealth. That is why the NDDC has been involved in the provision of free medical services, including sponsorships and referrals to local and foreign hospitals. We also believe that something is lacking. We need to have a state of the art hospital in the Niger Delta. That is why we see our relationship with you as one that will bring life, health and wealth to our people.”
The visit of the American group was a follow up to an earlier trip to the United States by a team from the NDDC, led by the Managing Director/CEO. Those who were with the Managing Director/CEO to receive the visiting American delegation were the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Architect Esoetok Ikpong Etteh and some other top management staff.
The NDDC Managing Director/CEO said that the Commission wants to see a situation where the Niger Delta people have access to world-class medical facilities within the region, adding: “The enormity of the challenges in the Niger Delta today is such that no matter how much money we have, we cannot do it alone. We need to partner and we are ready to work with you to see that this project takes off within one year.”
Noting that Omma Healthcare LLC has successfully delivered world-class hospitals in the United States and worldwide, he said since NDDC wants something that is world-class, “we need to work with world-class organizations.”
Ugwoha explained that NDDC does not have all the money and would count on the support of Omma Healthcare LLC in making contacts with organizations that are willing to participate in the hospital venture.
He said: “We are not interested in somebody building a hospital and leaving it for us. We are also interested in human capital development. We need to build the capacity of our people to run the hospital.”
Responding, the President and CEO of Omma Healthcare LLC, Mrs. Lynn Brown, said “if you think about how few hospitals you have in Nigeria, serving a population of about 130 million people, the need for a world-class hospital is just phenomenal.”
She said Omma Healthcare LLC renders a variety of services, including the development of a wide spectrum of healthcare facilities in the United States and worldwide. Some of the countries where Omma Healthcare has built world-class hospitals include Kuwait, Iraq, Mexico, Egypt, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Poland and India.
She promised that Omma Healthcare LLC and its strategic partners would do everything to secure equity participation and equipment financing for the hospital project from organizations such as the International Finance Corporation, (IFC).
On human capital development, the President and CEO of Omma Healthcare LLC said “we have talked to a number of Nigerian medical doctors in the United States who are ready to come home, provided there are good hospitals where they can work” adding that “over time, you will have the skilled workforce as we transit.”