Hon. Commissioner for Health Dr. Janet Ekpenyong respond to report that lead to poor health functioning in CRS

Hon. Commissioner Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, has met with the management staff and Medical Superintendents of Hospitals and Health Care Centres of the Ministry of Health for a progress report on their performance for the year 2021/2022.

Presenting their reports were the Medical Superintendents of General Hospital Calabar, Lawrence Henshaw Memorial Hospital Calabar South, Eja Memorial Hospital Itigidi, General Hospitals Ogoja, Obubra, Akampka and Okpoma, Cottage hospital Akpet Central and the Eyecare Programme in School of Health Technology, Calabar.

The Medical Superintendents complained about acute shortage of manpower, inadequate facilities, encroachment on hospital land, security and inadequate power supply amongst others as some of the challenges they are faced with in their respective duty stations.

They called on the government through the Ministry of Health to employ more hands as they are currently grossly understaffed and as a result, health care delivery services are affected.

Reacting to the reports presented, the Hon. Commissioner, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, acknowledged the efforts of the Medical Superintendents in their various hospitals despite the many challenges they are faced with.

She, however, asked that they try as much as they could to focus on giving their clients quality health care from the moment they walk into the hospital. She also advised that while waiting for government interventions, they should make adequate use of the imprests allocated to them to enhance the facilities.

The Hon. Commissioner further emphasized the need to improve on their revenue generation especially for those hospitals that are primary health care facilities. She stated that they would need to interface further to proffer solutions to the challenges being faced by the Medical Superintendents. Dr. Janet Ekpenyong also added that thanks to His Excellency Sen. Ben Ayade\’s approval, more hands would be brought in at all levels to ensure quality health care delivery in the state.

Ukongikwen Adie
CRSMOH MEDIA