Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Sir Siminalayi Fubara, on Tuesday scored a double in the health sector with the commissioning of the newly upgraded Neuropsychiatric Hospital and a brand new General Hospital at Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Fubara said the projects were conceived out of the challenges he observed during an inspection visit to an existing but old mental health facility.
According to Governor Fubara, the Hospital Management Board had invited him to inspect the Rehabilitation Centre being built with limited overhead funds.
He stated that it was during that visit that he directed that the entire facility be rebuilt, modernized and upgraded.
“It was there and then that I said: Look, we have this very big compound, we need to rebuild, modernise and upgrade the standard of this Neuropsychiatric Hospital and that day, we started this journey,” Fubara said.
The Governor recalled that the Neuropsychiatric Hospital was conceived in 1970 and commissioned in 1977 with a 50-bed capacity. He noted that one of the foremost doctors who managed the facility, the late Senator Martins Yellowe, later became a politician.
Fubara decried the state of the premises before the upgrade, saying it had become a hub for drug trafficking.
“This premises was a drug trafficking centre. We keep people in the Rehabilitation Centre, but some of our people innocently come here to play football while others are carrying bags to sell drugs to the inmates.
“But with what we have done today, I believe that the environment is secured, well-fenced and if you must enter here you must pass through the gates. So, to some extent, it will reduce these activities of drug trafficking in this premises,” he said.
The Governor said that the remodelled Neuropsychiatric Hospital, has a 100-bed standard Rehabilitation Centre for people with mental health and substance abuse issues.
He explained that mental health challenges are often triggered by unemployment, depression and other psychological pressures.
“Even in developed countries, they send people to Rehabilitation Centres and they help bring you back to normalcy. So, what we have done here is to prepare for the current challenges of our time,” he stated.
On the General Hospital, Governor Fubara said Obio/Akpor, being one of the largest Local Government Areas(LGAs) in the state, deserved standard healthcare facilities beyond the Primary Healthcare Centres.
“We discovered that the only health services around here are the Primary Healthcare Centres . Tertiary healthcare can only be gotten if you go to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) or the Braithwaith Memorial Hospital (BMH). We felt that Obio/Akpor deserves a General Hospital,” he said.
Governor Fubara stated that with the new General Hospital, residents can now access treatment locally and only be referred to higher facilities when necessary.
Governor Fubara said his administration remained committed to the three pillars of a functional society: education, healthcare and housing.
“By the special grace of God, we are trying our best in these three most important areas,” he said.
The Governor appealed to the Local Government Chairman and the host community to take ownership of the facilities and protect them from theft and vandalism.
“You’re the direct beneficiaries of it. Don’t say it is a government thing. It is in your place. Who knows, it might take you a long time to get something like this again,” Fubara charged.
Chairman of Obio/ Akpor LGA, Dr Gift Worlu applauded the successful execution of the projects and commended Governor Fubara for giving priority to the health of the people. Worlu also acknowledged the need for a modern Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the locality, stressing that it will address the mental health issues affecting the people.
The outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, who served as the Special Guest of Honour and performed the symbolic cutting of the ribbon to officially open the facilities, commended the Rivers State Government for investing in the health of the people. He also hailed the emphasis Governor Fubara has placed on mental health, saying the Neuropsychiatric Hospital occupies an important place in the management of mental health issues in any modern society.
Osigwe urged the public to refrain from stigmatising individuals seeking treatment at the facility, stressing that mental healthcare encompasses treatment for stress, depression, and personal crises, rather than just severe psychiatric disorders.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, explained that the new General Hospital has the basic units such as the Accident and Emergency services, consulting rooms, pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray rooms, delivery room, maternity, postnatal and antenatal wards.
Wachukwu disclosed that the new facility also houses an operating theatre, surgery recovery room, Central Sterilising Services Department, Intensive Care Unit, Newborn Intensive Care Unit, paediatric wards, male and female general wards of 50 beds each, private wards and administrative offices.
The Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Wachukwu disclosed, has consulting rooms, pharmacy, laboratory, male and female 50-bed wards, a substance and drug-abuse rehabilitation centre, 50-bed private wards, administrative offices, recreational spaces and a meeting hall.
Additional facilities include an electroconvulsive therapy centre, ICT centre, canteen, mortuary, generator house, internal road networks and landscaping, a 216-bed students’ hostel and staff quarters comprising 12 two-bedroom apartments.
Wachukwu said both hospitals had been furnished with modern equipment for diagnosis and treatment and were each supported with a brand-new ambulance.
The complex also has a 500KVA transformer, a 350KVA generating set and solar panels with inverter batteries providing 120KVA.
