From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
India is reputed for medical tourism and Nigerians top the list of people who flood the country for one medical reason or another. Many of the patients that travel from Nigeria to India go for kidney-related cases.
Painfully, many people have died as a result of kidney ailments in Nigeria. This may have been caused by the unavailability and affordability of medical facilities to prevent or treat the ailments.
However, the story may soon change with the completion of an ultramodern hospital in Owerri, Imo State, by a Nigerian medical expert based in the United States of America, Dr. Chima Oleru.
Healthcare professionals described equipment in the hospital as second to none in the country. The facility, Medical City Hospital, located at Egbu/Owerri/ Umuahia Road, which specialises in the treatment of kidney-related diseases and hypertension, also boasts of modern equipment to handle other ailments, including maternal healthcare services.
Aside from the affordability of the hospital’s services, Daily Sun was told that its digital operations save time and life for any client.
It was also confirmed that surgical operations that are done in countries like India and the United States of America can now be done in Owerri, Imo State, with ease.
Oleru is not working alone, as he has brought some experts from the U.S. to assist him in giving medical attention to the people of Imo and Nigeria at large.
A consultant nephrologist with over 30 years of experience in the U.S., Oleru is reputed as an expert in kidney diseases and hypertension. Besides practising in the U.S., he also gained experience from some countries of Europe.
Explaining why he brought such heavy investment home, Oleru said: “I realised that doctors were scarce in Nigeria, and I’m not happy seeing people die from complications they can easily treat at home.
“All these I realised when I was coming back to give free medical treatment to my people. So, I said to myself, why can’t I bring this to Nigeria, at least a lot of lives would be saved through that?
“So, I considered bringing in some of the best equipment to do the job for me and as well get some best hands from my hospital there in America. We brought in dialysis, new-born intensive care unit, phototherapy, digital x-ray, and 24-hour laboratory machines.
“We have ordered a digital stereographic scan; it’s one of the best ultrasound machines in the world. We have assembled specialist doctors, including synecologists.
“Another thing we have done exceptionally is that we have introduced a digital system of operation in the hospital. You don’t have to go about from one office to the other to be attended to, there is a computerised record system, you can get your prescription from the doctor without moving about, we also have about 50 beds.”
Indications are that the medical facility, which has gulped over N1 billion to complete, may go into partnership with the state government to complement other state-owned hospitals.
The Imo State government said it could not thank the brains behind this new lease of life in the state enough.
An ecstatic special assistant to the governor on health, Mrs. Lillian Okereke, disclosed that the state government was already in talks with the Medical City Hospital to see how it could assist by complementing its reforms in the health sector through provision of cheap and adequate services to residents of the state.
“I am quite optimistic that the state government will do what it can to partner with Medical City Hospital to complement its already laid down health systems. Our mobile clinic is still functioning; we believe, with good synergy with the hospital, a lot of lives would be saved,” Okereke said.
Former governor of the state, Emeka Ihedioha, who also graced the occasion, urged the hospital to make its facilities affordable to the people. Ihedioha, who extolled the proprietor for his initiative in erecting such a state-of-the-art facility in the state, called for the sustenance and lifting of the standard of the place over time.
