‘Only Bayelsa State has functional cardiovascular lab in S’South, S’East’

• My vision for UCH, by new CMD
• Five NAUTH staff, four others nabbed for N15m fraud

The only functional cardiovascular laboratory in the entire Southsouth and Southeast geopolitical zones is in the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital (BSH), Yenagoa, says Dr. Dafe Emmanuel.

Disclosing this in Yenagoa yesterday, the prominent interventional cardiologist said since the inauguration of BSH, built by Governor Seriake Dickson, the lab had been providing services to patients from the 11 states that make up the two zones.

Dafe, who heads the cardiovascular unit of the hospital, however, said patients from other parts of the country also patronised the facility for various cardiovascular procedures.

According to him, a similar laboratory in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, has not been working in the last three years, and the one established in Akwa Ibom State by former Governor Godswill Akpabio has not been functioning.

He said: “In the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital, we have a functional cardiovascular laboratory that serves the whole of Southsouth and Southeast. This is the only functioning card lab in these 11 states.

“Other card labs working in Nigeria are three in Lagos and one in Abuja. The one in Abuja serves the whole of the North and is private.

“There is one coming up in Owerri; it is private too. Only about five functional card labs in Nigeria. This is how terrible it is.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Abiodun Otegbayo, has disclosed that his vision for the hospital required cooperation from both internal and external stakeholders.

Prof. Otegbayo told The Guardian that his vision for a 21st century UCH would be hinged on the overall vision and mission of the hospital.

He pointed out that his shared vision would be to take health services delivery in UCH to the level that is in conformity with global best practice.

In another vein, five junior staff of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, have been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding the institution of over N15 million by manipulating its Automated Billing and Account Method.