Ekiti Teaching Hospital Advocates Social Health Insurance For Poor Patients
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, Ekiti State, Dr Ebenezar Adekunle Ajayi, has advocated institution of community-based social health insurance scheme to cater for indigent patients. Ajayi said in Ido Ekiti that the “hospital has been in the forefront in the advocacy for the institution of social health insurance programs especially the community- based type. The rich must take more than a passing interest in catering for the health of the vulnerable and the poorest of the poor in the society.”
The CMD, who spoke at Ido Ekiti during the hospital’s End of the Year celebrations, said the hospital still had the Increasing presence of indigent patients who could not afford the cost of out-of-pocket medicare expenses to contend with.
This, he said, was “despite that we run a tertiary hospital with the least hospital fees among its peers not only in Ekiti State but perhaps in the whole of the South West geopolitical region.
“For as long as the majority of these (indigent) people are not covered by any form of the health insurance program, establishment of funds through contributions from well-meaning individuals, government and non-government organizations including religious bodies will be a good way out of this challenge.”
Ajayi said: “Our training programs have continued to produce excellent results. Students of the School of Nursing presented for the 2018 final examinations of the Nursing and Midwifery Council returned 100 per cent success. It has been similar success stories in our postgraduate medical examinations as well.
The CMD said the facility was unrelenting in its bid to become the ultimate destination for medical tourists, adding that its expectations as an institution that placed priority on expertise, quality service delivery and patients’ satisfaction were on course.
He said: “We are working to have a hospital that will discourage continuous medical tourism abroad by the who-is-who in our society. It is achievable because whatever the heart of a man can conceive, it can achieve. We shall get there in a moment.” Ajayi said that FETHI had paid attention to improving the quality of healthcare services by making the hospital hospitable for patients and members of staff, Improving the quality and quantity of equipment for service delivery; Investing in building the capacity of members of staff across cadres and professions, and strategically securing services of medical personnel to expand scope in the hospital.
Other areas, he said, included “resourcefully and conscientiously allocating the scarce resources at our disposal, especially, funds to drive improvement in our IGR in a way to create a virtuous circle of efficiency in management, scaling up out outreach programs to take health care services to the people, and infrastructural development”.
Ajayi said: “Our training programs have continued to produce excellent results. Students of the School of Nursing presented for the 2018 final examinations of the Nursing and Midwifery Council returned 100 per cent success. It has been similar success stories in our postgraduate medical examinations as well. By Sam Nwaoko | Tribune
