The Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi, is emerging as a major medical hub in the North Central following about N20 billion investment by the state government in infrastructure, equipment, specialised services and manpower in the last three years.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr Terungwa Stephen Hwande, disclosed this on Thursday in Makurdi during the Presidential Media Tour of Projects in Benue State, organised by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) in collaboration with the Presidential Media Team.

Hwande said the investment had expanded the hospital’s specialist services and attracted patients from Abuja, Nasarawa, Taraba, Kogi and Enugu.

He disclosed that about N2 billion had been committed to the development of a cancer centre, which he said would serve patients from across the North Central.

“Taraba is around this axis. There’s no cancer centre in Taraba, there is no cancer centre in Kogi, there’s no cancer centre in Nasarawa. So if this cancer centre is finished, it will serve this area,” he said.

The CMD said the hospital had also established a specialised centre for children with special needs, offering multidisciplinary care for children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness and learning disabilities.

He added that BSUTH now had a modern radiology centre equipped with CT scan, fluoroscope and mammography machines, while a molecular laboratory with three PCR machines and an isolation centre had strengthened its capacity to diagnose and manage infectious diseases.

Hwande also highlighted the hospital’s IVF centre, which provides assisted reproductive services at a subsidised cost.

He said the treatment costs about N700,000 at BSUTH, compared with between N4 million and N5 million in Abuja, making the facility an affordable option for patients from within and outside Benue.

The CMD said the government had also invested in critical infrastructure, including a new waterworks project and a 33KVA electricity connection to replace the previous 11KVA supply.

According to him, the improved infrastructure was necessary to support the hospital’s growing specialist services and protect medical equipment.

On manpower, Hwande said the hospital’s workforce had risen from about 800 to approximately 3,000 under the current administration.

He added that more than N1 billion had been released to improve salaries and allowances and reduce the movement of medical professionals from the hospital to federal institutions.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Tersoo Kula, said the governor’s commitment to the hospital was influenced by its poor condition when he visited the facility before becoming governor.

Kula recalled that Alia visited the hospital in 2022 and found it without electricity and in deplorable sanitary condition.

“The place was stinking, smelling so terribly. The governor stood there. For the first time that I was going around with my boss, he was actually moved to tears,” Kula said.

He said the experience influenced the governor’s decision to seek a medical professional who could implement his vision for transforming the facility.

Kula said the investment had changed the profile of BSUTH, with patients from outside Benue now visiting the hospital for specialist medical services.

With its expanding specialist services, upgraded infrastructure and increased workforce, the teaching hospital is positioning itself as a referral centre for patients seeking advanced medical care in the North Central region.